PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - The Arizona Diamondbacks haven’t spent much in free agency and may be asking for too much in trades

Episode Date: December 15, 2022

With only a few big names left on the board, MLB free agency seems to be winding down for the holidays. We take a look at who spent the most and who spent the least. We also question if the D-backs are asking too much for Alek Thomas and if its ever too early for Mock Draft SZN.BUY D-BACKS TICKETS HERE: https://gametime.hnyj8s.net/c/3442941/1410622/10874 SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX: Join us at the Inaugural PHNX Tee Party, presented by Four Peaks Brewing Co., at Dobson Ranch Golf Course!We are renting out the entire driving range! Come hang with Big Drive Energy, the PHNX crew and fellow Diehards for a night of golf, food, drinks, contests, prizes, and more. Our PHNX Suns crew will be hosting a watch party for the Suns vs. Timberwolves. Check out https://www.eventbrite.com/e/phnx-tee-party-at-dobson-ranch-tickets-481918139127 to reserve your spot right now! And for our Diehards, check Discord for your special link where you’ll save 20% on this awesome event!DraftKings: Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now (https://bit.ly/3Jl1dMX), use promo code PHNX and make your first deposit of FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in FREE BETS INSTANTLY! For every leg you add you can boost your winnings up to ONE HUNDRED percent!If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisiscounseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL/IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 888-789-7777/visit http://ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-877-770-STOP (7867) (LA), 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), visitOPGR.org (OR), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA).21+ (18+ WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/LA/MI/NJ/NY/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Min. $5 deposit required. Eligibility restrictions apply. See http://draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.OGeez!: Enter the “Flavoring Life” sweepstakes. One winner will receive 3 bags of OGeez, an OGeez! Hat, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Sign up at gophnx.com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIplqDYsxYeiotn5Zc6hRahaX0a5qG99eHVzkhOlGZDRdgUA/viewform. Must be 21 years or older to purchase.Underdog Fantasy: Sign up for Underdog Fantasy today! Go to the link https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-phnx and use promo code “PHNX” to receive a deposit match up to $100Four Peaks: Enter to win the “Toast of the Month” sweepstakes to win a $50 Four Peaks gift card, a PHNX shirt of your choice, and a PHNX annual membership. Go to goPHNX.Com or visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOabxo8KQxOWwn9wTilMBuTMAJdrL0CaH9lzfuJqgKN9vfSg/viewform Must be 21 or older. Enjoy responsibly. Bad Birdie: Use code “BADBIRDIEPHNX15” for 15% off your next order https://glnk.io/7qnq/phnx-sportsMor Furniture: Save up to 50% all through the holidays! Check out https://morfurniture.comLiquid Death: Get free shipping on all water and merch at https://LiquidDeath.com/PHNX FOCO: FOCO has you covered with the best Arizona Merchandise. Head on over to foco.com. For all non pre-sale items use the promo code “PHNX” for 10% offWhen 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome in to another edition of the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia. Of course, I am occasionally known as the milkman with this hat today. I'm going to steal in Zach Gallen's nickname. This guy over here, he is my vice mayor. He's also the one and only thunderstick, Jesse Friedman. My Setservaisa shirt, just like hiding. Yeah, just peeking out a little bit.

Just it's there. It's a very loud splash of red. Yeah, but it's good. It's good. I like it. Meanwhile, I, according to Anthony Tochry, look like grimace today. So that's why I hate that guy. Anyway, of course, this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Drafking Sportsbook app, America's top-rated sportsbook app.

Hello to all of you. Thank you guys for joining us in the chat today. And as always, we appreciate you guys being here. We have a lot of spending going on. A lot of spending. There was another NL West acquisition made, and this one wasn't as sexy. It wasn't as big. Noah Sindegard is going to the...

LA Dodgers agreeing on a one-year deal. And of course, not a terrible pitcher at all in somebody who I'm sure the Dodgers will take from where he's currently at to a Cy Young level because that's what they do. Yeah, I mean, you might as well just say it now, right? I mean, you're not speaking it into existence. It's just going to happen, no matter what we say. So, yeah, Noah Cindergarde is not the pitcher he once was, right? I think that was obvious watching the Phillies in the playoffs.

Like Cindergarde is not, you know, the flamethrower guy that he was. was back with the New York Mets. But he's still a pretty effective pitcher. He had a sub-4 ERA last year with the Phillies, not a big strikeout guy anymore, which I think it's still weird to live in a world where Noah Cinderguard, let's see, in the regular season with the Phillies,

he was at 5.1 case per nine, which is extremely low. Very, very low. He really... A man who was in the tens for most of his career, or at least the early part of his career. Right. Yeah, I mean, 31 strikeouts in 54 and two-thirds innings

after being moved to the Phillies in the middle of last year. So, yeah, he's a different guy, but he's still a pretty effective pitcher. And if there's any team, it's going to figure out how to get Noah Cindergarde back closer to the pitcher he once was. It's the L.A. Dodgers. And from what we've seen, it looks like he turned down more money and more years to go to the Dodgers because he knew, you know, just how much success they've had with pitchers like him in the past.

So for him, it was probably the right move. More importantly, I feel like it's that betting on yourself move that we talked about with both Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa, where he wants a breakout year. He had a good year with the Phillies. They did really well. They exceeded expectations. Now he can go to a team that is, you know, arguably one of the best teams in baseball, mostly at, you know, rejuvenating careers at times. So, I mean, that's one thing that the Dodgers are very, very good at. It makes a lot of sense.

And he only, you know, he only signs that one-year deal so that hopefully he can get what would probably. be his last big money deal next year if he has a good season with the Dodgers. You think he's going to get 11 years or 13 years? I'm thinking 15. I'm thinking 15. I'm thinking Lockett by 15 because Ken Rosenthal has a tremendous piece by the way over on the athletic, pointing out

how big market teams have found a way to circumvent the luxury tax with these long-term deals. And it's very interesting, as Jesse pointed out to me, mostly the thing that sticks out is the fact that the CBA technically is against this.

Yeah, I mean, there's a clause in the CBA that kind of specifically addresses this. There was no question, and this goes back to the Bryce Harper deal with the Phillies of 2019, right? That was a 13-year contract with a relatively low A.A.V. Given how good of a player, Bryce Harper was.

That was really the first instance that we've seen of this. And then as Ken Rosenthal wrote about, we've had three more of these in like the last week, basically. So it's sort of become the new trend if you're a big market team in order to circumvent the luxury tax system and keep your annual tax hit low on some of these star players, you just sign them for an absurd number of years well past, you know, when they're probably going to be effective major leaguers, but you're willing to do that because it gives you more space during the prime years of those players in order to make

additions and add elsewhere on the roster. But yeah, the collective bargaining agreement, apparently, this is really news to me from Ken's article today. He wrote that baseball's collective bargaining agreement states neither players nor clubs shall enter into any agreement designed to defeat or circumvent the intention of the luxury tax. And you could make a case. I don't know if it's a, you know, legally sound case at this point, but you could make a case that that's sort of what these contracts are designed to do. They're sort of trying to circumvent the system and extend these players out farther than

you reasonably would in a normal situation in order to keep the luxury tax hit low on an annual basis. And yeah, I mean, we can get into the specifics here. Ken basically says that he doesn't really know exactly what the future holds in this, whether MLB would actually take action on trying to prevent this, but it's interesting that the language is there. Well, and it's interesting because baseball is always trying to make the game more competitive, more equal.

Yesterday, Roger Doudel said in regards to the NFL that the NFL has a, point differential and most of average right now of eight like eight points it's the closest it's ever been in NFL history basically NFL is the most competitive it's kind of ever been at least points wise as far as the difference between wins and losses on games that's what baseball wants right baseball wants not only close games but they want competitiveness they want teams to be able to not be terrible for years and years and years and be able to find their way out of of the seller yeah it just feels like like these things that these big market teams are doing is just is is is doing the opposite of that.

Once again, it's making sure that these big names go to big market teams and it's making these teams so much substantially better than their opponents, unless you're talking about the, the NL East or the NL West where it's kind of a arms race that there's no hope for them to compete. You know, the raise can only do it with a limited budget so many years, right? Where they compete in the AL East and such. So yeah, but speaking of money spent, let's take a look now at some of the free eight or the biggest spenders as far as free agency goes. I like to call these guys the Santa Claus of the holiday free agency season.

Of course, we have the San Francisco Giants now outspending everybody with the Carlos Correa deal in the New York Mets just a tad behind. Do you think this bothers Steve Cohen? Do you think that he needs to spend poor money than everyone else? Yeah, for sure. He's going to go sign, you know, some guy to some, like, minor league contract with an invite to spring training or something that has incentives that could push the Mets over the Giants. Yeah, yeah, just enough, right. This is kind of wild because we're getting to the point where teams that have been notorious for spending and still do kind of get just mixed in the shuffle like the Yankees. What you'll see notably missing from this list is the Los Angeles Dodgers, who I'm sure.

are still going to end up on this list, but at this point have not ended up in the top 10. At this point, if you don't get Danesby Swanson and you don't get Carlos Rodin, I don't, I mean, you're not going to spend that much money. The Dodgers could still improve via trade in a significant way. I think there's still potential for that. But I don't know if there's much potential at this point

for the Dodgers to have this enormous spending off season based on how many guys are off the board now. Well, if we look at that side, we also have to look at the side that I like to call the hollings, holiday grinches of free agency spending. These are the teams that spend the least in MLB free agency. Brewers Marlins. They're not gringes.

They just, they need to, they need to find good coupons before they go shopping. I can relate. I refuse to buy anything at retail price. Like there is no reason to. You will find a 10% off coupon out there. You'll probably find a 20% off coupon. Sometimes I go on to the website and I just start plugging in stuff to see if it'll work. Well, there are some stores that, honestly,

it's irritating. There are some stores that have coupons all the time. Literally, there is net like, Coles always has a coupon. If you're Walston and Cole's paying full price, you're just wasting money. You're just throwing money away, basically. You're absolutely right about that. But the Milwaukee Brewers in Miami Marlins are not throwing any money away. And they're doing the Jesse holiday spending method of waiting to the last minute before they get those last minute deals. But yeah, there's, there's some surprising teams on here. I think the Atlanta Braves have a chance if they do retain Swanson, like you were saying about the Dodgers, that they could flip and end up on the other side of this spending frenzy.

But the Mariners, who is a team that seems very close, I think that they've been active and I was expecting to see them add more. And honestly, the Baltimore Orioles that just make it at the bottom of the list, they also seem like a team that, like, how is it not tantalizing to them with how well, how good their season went in 2012 to add some pieces right now at this point? Cash considerations equals Cole's cash. Yes. Cole's cash is a mind-voggling phenomenon.

It works so well. They're just like handing you money, but you have to come in within like one or two weeks. And nothing's going to be on sale during that period of time. So good luck finding anything there. We're just tearing apart Cole's business model today. I don't know what they did to deserve this. Anyway, yeah, no, there are. I love Coles, so I can't.

I'm there all the time. That's why I know all of these things. Most of my wardrobe comes from there. I can't say the same. Mine comes from the internet. That's why mine is cool. And you get most of yours for free because people just send you stuff. That's the hustle.

That's the side hustle. Can we put the least spending graphic back up? Because I want to take a look at where the Diamondbacks are on this list. Obviously, not terrible, but haven't really spent much. Miguel Castro. Miguel Castro is all that money, right? The thing here is that the Diamondbacks have been actually. at least rumored to be active, right?

So I don't feel like it was not a lack of trying, but I also think that the Diamondbacks really did want to try to find their big deal through a trade versus free agency. Yeah, and they're not done. Honestly, I'm not really surprised at all if the Diamondbacks haven't spent much yet because the way that the market pans out, usually the Diamondbacks are going to be doing their spending a little bit later in the offseason. Right. So, like, they weren't, they weren't going to get Carlos Correa or, you know, Trey Turner or, like, the guys that have come off the board are by and large players the Diamondbacks would not, would not be interested in. So, yeah, I don't think this is necessarily a huge shock.

I'm a little concerned about Gabriel, who says he thinks he spent more on Black Friday than the D-backs have in the off-season. Gabriel apparently spent more than $4 million during Black Friday, which is, you must, I don't know. Gabriel must give great Christmas gifts. He's talking about percentage of spending versus what you have to spend. I think that might be what he's talking about. Of course, the only thing the debacks could do right now that would completely blow my mind is sign Carlos Rodan, right? Which it's not going to happen because he's going to get so much money in this next deal.

I don't think Carlo, I mean, I'm honestly kind of scared for whatever team gives Carlos Rodon as much money as he's going to get. he has a history of shoulder issues. And in my mind, a shoulder problem, like continuous shoulder problems, is about the worst injury report you could possibly have on a player. And so, yeah, I mean, you pitch great. Like, he's an excellent, excellent starter. Probably one of the best five or ten in the National League last year.

But there's a lot of risk in going to six or seven years to get Carlos Redan. And that's probably what it's going to take to get him. All right. Well, I will tell you this much. haven't done so already. You don't have to shop on a Black Friday deal to get yourself the best present you could get yourself. Get yourself a PHNX diehards membership right now. Get one for your loved one, but I mean, really, just get it for yourself. That's one gift that nobody's going to question why you did that or what you did it for. Of course, not only do you get a free t-shirt or hat upon

getting your membership, you'll get a free t-shirt or hat every year. You'll get 20% off over at the phnx Locker.com. Access to our members-only Discord, which is, of course, the best place to be an Arizona sports fan so much more. Not only do you get Jesse's Discord or excuse me, Die Hard Only newsletter, but we've got one coming today and I have to, I have to preface it by saying it's a little bit of a downer article. What did you do? It's a realist article, I guess is all I'll say.

But I think it's important stuff for every Diamondback fans to have in their minds going to 2020. So you'll see what I'm talking about. Do we want to talk about it or what? Because obviously what happened here is Jesse wrote an article that provided a lot of hope. There was an article that he has out about Dalton Varsho, the trade of Houston. I don't know how many Diamondbacks fans thought of that article is providing a lot of hope. A lot of Diamondbacks fans were angry and Astros fans were angry.

And we found it delightful at how many people were angry at Jesse. But of course, Jesse, Elizabeth asked why much Jesse hurt us? That's Jesse's thing. Jesse feeds on that. He's like an energy vampire when it comes to that kind of thing. But, yes, he loves misery, and that's why his diehard. His diehard only newsletters is going to bring that to you. Hopefully, though, what we can do is we can get you to join us over at our PHNX, 4Peaks Tea Party.

And, of course, if you are a diehards member, you will get a discount on the entry fee for that. $45 per person, $36 for diehards, and then the foursome, $160, $120. but of course this is going to be a blast. We are going to have our inaugural PHNXT party presented by Four Peaks at Dobson Ranch golf course. We're renting out the whole driving range, which is incredible. We had a blast out there the other day hanging out, hitting some golf balls. I love the technology of this place. If you guys have been the top golf, it's that but at a normal driving range.

There are so many games to play at the driving range. But not to mention, we're going to have some gigantic televisions showing the Suns versus the Timberwolves. We're going to have our PHNX crew out there, fellow diehard. Big Drive, Energy, and more. Night of golf food, drinks, contest, prizes, and more. Max is standing here looking at me, and I feel very nervous reading this because he's making sure that I get it right and I don't let him down and I don't want to let him down, but I feel like I'm ultimately going to.

All right. Thank you. Thank you. You'll get unlimited range balls, a set of rental clubs if you don't have your own clubs. And, of course, one free hour of range time and golf balls at Dobson Ranch to be used at a later time. So not only do you get to come out for this event, but you also get to come out on your own

and enjoy the wonderful range over at Dobson Ranch. We're going to have many games. Of course, Jesse is going to beat you in ping pong. Saul is going to beat you in pickleball and more. All sorts of contests, including longest drive, putting challenges, highest score or more. There's going to be a lot of heaters around Lindsay Smith,

and she will be in charge of the hot chocolate because she will be very cold most of the time, but you don't have to be cold. Dress warmly and come out. And most importantly, There will be a free kids clinic provided for all kids 10 under for you to drop off the little ones and have them have their own fun time and you can come have your fun time with your friends, fellow diehard members and your friends at PHNX. But of course, make sure to click the link in the description. Reserve your spot right now.

And for our diehards, check the Discord for your special link where you will save 20% on this awesome event. So make sure to come out. It's a fun time. We're going to have a great time. I'm going to be there. I don't know anymore. My cornhole skills are questionable. best lately.

So I love cornhole. I still don't really know if I'm good at it. Like I don't, I'm not only usually embarrassed myself. It's kind of hard to embarrass yourself in cornhole. Right. But it's just a really fun. Like,

I don't know. I just always love mine cornhole. I think the most important thing is that there's going to be food provided by our friend at Four Peaks and they will have beer samples and swag. So thanks to Four Peaks for doing that. And of course, I have to ask everybody in the chat, what is your favorite Four Peaks beer?

Drop it for me. Someone pointed out, yes, tea today. I am fine. I assure you guys, everything is okay. I just needed a tea today, you know? See, like when you drink beers on every show and the next thing you know, like people think something's wrong when you're drinking a tea. I will tell you though, of course, wow wheat is by far my favorite for Peaks beer. So I want to hear from you guys as well. Jesse, what else do we have going on? I mean, we have Corby and Carroll kind of talking that shit,

which I love a little bit, right? Yes, yes. We had a tweet going to out from Corbyn Carroll that kind of expressed his feelings. He was on the cover of baseball America, the top 10 prospects. Corbyn Carroll heads a talented trio of prospects atop Arizona system. And Corbyn Carroll drops

this little teaser a lot more than just a trio. I can promise you that. I love this from Corbyn Carroll. Corvin Carroll talking he is just like the nicest, most respectful kid that you could possibly imagine. He's not wrong.

And so thoughtful. Just very thoughtful. He would never tweet something out that was like reactionary. No. Or just really, I feel like to talk that shit. Yeah. But he's talking that shit. He's not the type to like come after people on Twitter at all.

Right. Which he doesn't really do here. But he does, I don't know. I love the, I love the tone of voice here in this, in these words from Corby and Carol. And he might be right. I mean, the trio of course that baseball America is referring to is Carol, who is still officially. prospect. He hasn't exhausted his rookie status just yet, along with Jordan Lawler and Drew Jones. Those are the three guys that are viewed as like the elite trio of Diamondbacks prospects. But you've got

some other names in this system that are also, you know, could be bound to be pretty good major leaguers at some point. You've got Blake Walson. You've got Brandon Fott, who we've talked a lot about Drey Jamison and Ryan Nelson are still prospects. So there's a lot of other guys that are in the system that could be difference makers in the big league. in the big leagues before too long. So it's cool to see Corbyn Carroll coming out and kind of supporting the entirety of the Dback system, which remains one of the best in the league.

If you're listening to us right now in your favorite audio podcasting app, I just want you to know that the chat is going crazy with extension talk. They want him extended right now 13 years to 20 years is the time frame being thrown out there. Well, you got to, I mean, so the way extensions work, right, would have to be like 11 or 13 years after he hits free agency.

So if he hits free agency and, in six years, then you go 11 years, Pat. So maybe a 17-year deal? 17-year deal for Forman Carroll. There I go. I'm on board with it. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the New York Mets contacted the Diamondbacks about another young man

that was considered one of their top prospects, Alex Thomas. Apparently, Arizona asked for third baseman Brett Batt. Is it Bady or Bady? Brett Bady. Brett Bady to be included in the deal. And the Mets said, take a walk, basically. And that's when they declined and re-signed Brandon Nimmo. to an eight-year, $162 million deal, right?

So, like, right there shows very much so their feelings on their young prospect and how much he's truly worth considering that they brought Nimmo back for that big contract. Yeah. It also makes me realize that teams are still interested in Alec Thomas, and I'm sure they probably don't know as much about Jake McCarthy as they should, but Alec Thomas still had kind of a rough landing to his 22 season. And I can at this point, I can completely understand the Diamondbacks not being, you know, in a position where they need to make a panic move to get rid of him at this point. You're not going to sell at a high point, essentially, with his stock.

Yeah, I mean, Brett Beatty is, at least on MLB pipeline, he's ranked as the second best third base prospect in baseball. So it's Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals, who we're familiar with. A friend of the show. I mean. Can we call him? I don't know. We watched him. play at the Arizona fall league quite a bit. We still a lot of time around them. I just feel like we can

call him that. I've never met Jordan Walker personally, so I don't know if I can quite go that far. But yeah, Jordan Walker, we saw him in the Arizona Fall League. Just an outstanding hitter projects to be a star for the St. Louis Cardinals as soon as next year. And then Brett Beatty is right after him in terms of third base prospect ranking. So it makes sense. The debacks certainly have a need at third base. It's a position that they don't have any clear answers for moving forward. as of right now it's it's a platoon probably between josh rohoss and Emmanuel Rivera I think there's still some opportunities to add in that regard before the offseason is over but yeah Brett Beatty is the kind of guy that you could plug in there

and you know make your your everyday third baseman for a long time he's also the number two prospect in the Mets organization as well and yeah and he hit a home run in his first major league at that so I mean he's kind of a legend already there I feel like that's something of a I need to look this up but I feel like that's something of a trend with Diamondbacks prospects. Like I think there have been kind of a lot that have homered in their first big league at bat. I know Herrardo Parra is on that list.

I want to say there's a number of others. I'm going to have to look into that at some point. It sounds like you need to write an article about that. Yeah, that's an article waiting to happen. I'm pretty sure there's something there. But yeah, Bady did get a taste of the big leagues toward the end of last year. It was 11 games, 388 at bat.

So really small sample. It wasn't great. You hit 184 with a 586 OPS. So similar to Thomas, there are still some questions about like how does the skill set play in the big leagues. What is this really going to look like when all is said and done? But yeah, I mean, from the Mets standpoint, given how, you know, how willing they are to spend money, as we've talked about a lot, this kind of makes sense for them, right?

Like, they would rather just go get Brandon Nimmo than, you know, sacrifice a very, very good prospect in Brett Bady and move him to another organization. So no surprises here, really, that they decided to go that route. And it's, like you said, I think the Diamondbacks weren't really looking to get any more prospects, but Brett Bady's Major League Ready, essentially, I feel like, or at least that's what the Diamondbacks are assessing him as. He would be a guy that, yeah, you could viably, like, bring him into spring training, he has a good spring, he's your, he's probably the guy at third base going

into the season. I think he's at that point. He said, I guess the question here is, is the asking price too high for Alec Thomas? Or is it exactly where it should be if you're the Arizona Diamondbacks, right? Again, they're not, this isn't a guy who's going to. be a free agent after 2023. They have no reason to be aggressive. Yeah, to rush. Yeah, to rush and get something for or not get enough for somebody that they value very highly in their system. Yeah, it's hard to say. I mean, again, we don't, we don't really know exactly what, you know,

what the trade conversations around Alec Thomas are looking like. We know this rumor about Brett Beatty. I think on paper, that's a fairly even trade, both very well regarded as prospects with some questions about how things will translate to the big leagues on paper. I don't think that was a ridiculous ask or anything from the Diamondbacks perspective. But yeah, I mean, I think you're certainly in a position, as we've talked about, to take advantage of this situation where there are a lot of teams that need a center fielder right now or that would like to upgrade at center field and the Diamondbacks have as many of them as they do. So it's an opportunity to be taken advantage of.

I don't think at least this one rumor that we know about, I don't think asking for Brett Beatty was a ridiculous ask by any stretch of the imagination. I wouldn't back off that asking price in a significant way. Brian Abdallah earlier in the chat said that the asking price is higher than a bag of OGs. Sounds like our price is higher than I'm guessing a bag of OGs. Look, I'll do the ad reads around here, Brian. All right. But that gives me a wonderful opportunity to say, yes, the asking price is higher than a bag of OGs.

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And I got asked this the other day. They are full-size bowling lanes. So I don't know if you go to some arcades where they kind of have like smaller lanes. This is full-on bowling lane along with an incredible arcade. And the only full-time indoor. outdoor racetrack in the United States over at Octane Raceway, where Faj, Faj is very good at racing. I don't understand it because he's a very large individual, very tall, and these are small carts. But he's really good. But he's really good. I don't know. I think he's like reaching his arms out and

putting, you know, like stopping us or doing something. I don't know. There's some cheating going on there, but it was incredibly good. So make sure to have a fun time with your friends over at Octane Raceway and Mavericks. Jesse, it's never too early for a mock draft. No. It's never too early for a mock draft. Almost too early. Almost too early, but now it's okay. Yeah, well, and of course, we had the Zips projections come out today,

so we wanted to kind of entice you to listen to tomorrow's audio-only podcast episode that we are going to do a big dive into the Zips projections for the Arizona Diamondbacks. But of course, Jonathan Mayo from MLB.com has the Arizona Diamondbacks in his latest, I guess, first mock draft of the 2023. Yeah. His eighth mock draft in December.

Right. But he actually has a kind of a homegrown talent going to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Jacob Wilson from Grand Canyon University, son of Jack Wilson, which actually looking at some of his numbers has a pretty

incredible bat. He's a shortstop, super advanced bat, and we'd be considered a bit of a steal outside of the top 10, according to Jonathan Mayo. But Wilson's slothed. 358, 418, 585 with a 1.004 OPS and 59 games for GCU last season.

Yeah, and he struck out like seven times in like 300 play appearances, which is wild. Yeah, I have to say this thought did cross my mind when I was looking at MLB Pipelines' list of draft prospects before they actually did a mock draft. And I saw, I saw Jacob Wilson, Grand Canyon University, kind of around where the Diamondbacks would be selecting. I kind of wondered if this might be a possible fit. But yeah, really advanced bat, 65 hit tool on the 20 to 80 scale, which is a very, very big number. Sort of fits the mold of what the diamond backs have often targeted in the first round of the draft, which is guys who hit the ball well. They're not usually chasing after big sluggers early in the draft. They're looking for guys who are good defenders, guys who have advanced hit tools, maybe a bit of a not as much of an emphasis on power, at least from what we've seen recently.

but yeah Wilson has an opportunity to come in and and you know potentially be a difference maker for the debacks down the road I think there's potential for him to move to third base as well so if you're wondering you know what do you do with Jordan Lawler those things will usually sort themselves out but I think he would have the arm to play at third base so that's at least something to note for now and he's a college player so his timeline is expedited just a little bit yeah he could advance a little bit more quickly which which is would be good for the debacks right they're in a position where if you can get a guy up in the next, you know, three years or so. This, this team has the potential to be pretty good in a few years. So the timeline sort of works out there as well. Yep. And so I don't know. I don't know when this is too early to start talking mock drafts. I'm sure this is a million times.

I mean, the draft is in June. So I think we're about seven, seven months out. Yeah. So yeah, there's still, there's still a whole lot of. 35 to 120 mock draft still to go before we get there. Right, right. You guys stay tuned. and we'll update you on every single one of them.

Of course, we thank you guys for being here right now on the PHNX Sports YouTube channel. Please subscribe if you haven't done so. Leave us a review. Leave us to comment. We thank you guys for being here. Sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when any of the shows go live.

If you're listening to us on your favorite audio podcasting app, we appreciate you guys listening there. We thank you if you haven't subscribed, do it so. Leave us a review. We always love getting the feedback. And before I go, I'm going to do something ridiculous, of course, with our Draft King's pick of the week. Oh, here we go.

I'm taking the Suns. I'm taking the Phoenix Suns over the L.A. Clippers. They have a plus 100 value on the money line right now. I'm also taking the over at 217.5 points. Why? Because I want to be hurt again. That's why. But I believe in the Suns, beating the Clippers.

And right now they're a one-point underdog. So come on. Get on that money line bet. Make some money with me. And of course, if you haven't done so already, download the Draft King Sportsbook app. Sign up with our code of PHNX. Place a $5 pre-game money line bet on any NBA team to win their game,

and you will get $150 in free bets if they do. Bet on the Sons. And I'm guessing he just walked by, and I'm guessing Shane's disappointed in me for doing that. But anyway, that's code PHNX, only at the Drap King Sportsbook. Minimum, Agent eligibility restrictions apply. See, show notes for details. Brian Abdallah says, no thanks.

Michael says, Sons need to win so bad, so don't jinx them, Derek. I know. I think people are very on board with your Japanese speak of the week. That's all right. What else has changed? You can yell at me on Twitter because that's what Twitter is for. Of course, I'm at Kapp underscore Kedman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman.

Our shows at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Make sure to check out our audio podcast on Friday. Big Zips episode. We're just going to die right into the branded font numbers. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah, quick preview.

The Zips have Corbyn Carroll being the Diamondback's best position player next year, like by a reasonably wide margin. And I believe it also has Brandon Fott being the Diamondback's second best starter behind Zach Gallen. So we're going to have some fun tomorrow. Let that stick in between now and tomorrow. We're going to have some fun tomorrow digging into the numbers. So audio only can't join us in the chat, but be sure to whatever podcast app is your favorite. You can find us.

Pull up the Zips projections on fan graphs and we'll go through this together. We'll go through it as a team. Of course, we thank you guys for being here on behalf of David Faj. This guy, Jesse, and myself, we always appreciate your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when Brandon Fott is one of the best projected pitchers for the Diamondbacks next year.