PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - The baseball world waits for Shohei Ohtani to make final decision

Episode Date: December 8, 2023

The free agency world continues to wait for Shohei Ohtani to make his decision on where he will sign. We discuss the madness surrounding Ohtani and cases where we’ve seen the sport on hold like this before. We also discuss what the Diamondbacks are building towards and if they’re doing it the right way. This episode is brought to you by the letter E. An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to D-backs Takeovers, Knockout Nights & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/phnx-56002330273 Desert Financial Credit Union: Open a free checking account online with Desert Financial Credit Union and get $200 in bonuses https://www.desertfinancial.com/200Get 10% off your first order of Hero Bread at https://www.hero.co/ by using code PHNXSchedule a free in-home estimate with Empire Today! All listeners can receive a $350 OFF discount when they use the promo code PHNX. Restrictions apply. See EmpireToday.com/PHNX for details.Sign up for Gila River Resorts & Casinos $1,000,000 Big Red’s Showdown! Stay in the game and get rewards; it’s that easy! https://www.gilamilliondollarshowdown.com/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.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!OGeez!: OGeez! is not your average cannabis-infused gummy. Head on over to https://www.ogeezbrands.com to find out where you can purchase. Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. Four Peaks: Follow them on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. WYNK Seltzer + THC: Go to https://drinkwynk.com/ and use promo code “PHNX” for 50% off. Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. 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 PHNXTBACs podcast. Of course, brought to you here on Friday by our friends at OGs. We'd like to give a shout out to OGs brands, the official sponsor of flavoring Fridays. OG is not your average cannabis-infused company. They absolutely knock it out of the park when it comes to flavor and the effects of their gummies. They are a total slam dunk, which has nothing to do with our sport. But head on over to OGsbrands.com to see their full lineup and find out what you can purchase. This episode is also, this episode is brought to you by the letter E!

That's my best Muppet. Of course, it's the eighth day of December. Me love it. I'm eating cookie. Me love it. And that's this guy. This guy is Espo with an E. It's the eighth day of December. I am Derek Montia.

There's some E's in there as well. There's two E's in OGs. And of course, the Diamondbacks acquired a bunch of players with, these. We have A. U.N. E. U.N.S. Juarez and Eduardo Rodriguez. So, of course, again, Espos, he's also here. And we're going to talk about the Diamondbacks, obviously, on

a day sponsored by E, bringing back Evan Longoria and pursuing Eddie Rosario, I guess, right? No, none of those things are actually what we're going to do, but we are going to talk about this team. How about a Rubio Duraso? Yeah, I'm down for that. Craig Morgan is, his mind is melting

right now, seeing Espos here on set. And of course, there's no ease in Craig Morgan's name so he can't participate at all in this episode. But we're thrilled to have you guys here, of course, your mayor, PHNX. This is your czar of content here at PHNX. And I needed to bring him in while Jesse is

traveling back from Tennessee. Hopefully he does return to us. But let's talk about... There's some ease in that too. Yeah, and let's talk about elevating, shall we? The Diamondbacks elevating their roster. I saw the beginning. Show Hey is coming.

Yeah, show hey is coming. Show Hay is on his way. No, there is a lot to talk about when it comes to show hey are actually nothing to talk about and we'll get to that of course soon maybe something happens over the course of the show based on certain flight plans and when private planes are going to land in toronto but oh hey watch 2023 all right uh well uh you've had a chance obviously to see a team here in the valley do something exactly like the diamondbacks did make the finals and then have to build on that finals appearance right one one way uh that that needs to be done is through

the roster, changes to the roster, kind of trying to make the team better. And while they're not quite turning to the dark side as much as the Sons did or have, but they did go out and pick up some quality talent that was available through trades and free agencies. And they are at least demonstrating to the fan base that they're trying to build on this and do it in a way that makes a little bit of financial sense while still pursuing some of the, I guess, names that were players that are going to improve this team. I would argue that they've actually done a better job in the offseason following their run to, obviously, the World Series Suns to the finals. The Suns didn't really do a lot coming out of that where there were any changes in terms of anything major.

The Diamondbacks have addressed serious needs that they had. have, I mean, we all know that the bullpen game was a big question. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I had a turning point, too. It literally made people start questioning the game of baseball. And like, it was kind of an insult to Torrey and the Diamondbacks as if they weren't actively trying to win a game by pursuing it with a bullpen game. Right.

But no team wants to throw a bullpen game out there, you know, regularly, let alone in the middle of a, of a, you know, World Series postseason run. But they didn't have a choice. Right. For multiple reasons, you know, I mean, when you think about where that season started with Madison Bumgarner and the rotation and everything to where they wound up, and the fact that they had to throw a bullpen game in the World Series, you know, it is what it is. I mean, a lot of things were patchworked just to get there in the rotation.

Exactly. One of them, but they've addressed it. I mean, Rodriguez is a huge. huge upgrade in terms of that. It lets Brandon Fott still develop, you know, as much of the pressure of being one of the three guys that needs to get them to postseason. Yeah, and it gives him the ability to grow into what you hope he can be in the next three seasons. And it solidifies your rotation now.

You arguably have one of the best rotations in your division now, which is huge, you know, when they did it in a cost-effective way. plus he hates the Dodgers, which we all love about an individual. He's an instant legend because of it is the move that he made with the Dodgers situation, right? But again, that's something that is probably going to make Dodgers fans like him less, and that spices up this rivalry between the two of us. So I'm totally on board for that. But yeah, you're right.

I mean, the way that it does change the lineup, there's a lot of people that are looking at his career stats. Jesse looked at his peripherals. Of course, Jesse had to spoil everything and make comparisons to Madison Bum, Gardner, which weren't unfounded, but at the same time, the two are in a much different place in their career when they are this age coming over to a team like this. There is some concern about obviously committing four years to a guy, especially during a time frame where the diamondbacks are going to probably change over those four years, especially potentially

after the post-Zat gallon Merrill Kelly, should they not remain on this team. But I think you have to accept when you're playing. Yes, the diamond-backer. Jack's won to the World Series last year, but there's still a way that they're viewed in the way that they operate. And sometimes you have to overpay in terms of either total dollars or an extra year to get somebody to come to your franchise. And that's just the cost of doing business. And I'm all right with it because I feel like they've learned. It wasn't let's go after one really big fish like Zach Grinkey or Madison Baumgartner. This was let's go get a guy.

A, we're familiar with because Hayes and Lavello knew him from Boston. Right. But B, that we feel like, you know, 30 is not, you know, that old. Let's be honest in this. Yeah, we're two guys that are going to defend that, yeah. But, you know, so for me, I think it was the right kind of signing in the spot you're looking at. You solidify third base a little bit with, you know, Suarez. and what he can do.

And is he perfect? No. But again, you're, you've got a dollar store budget and you got Nordstrom taste. At some point, you got to go, where's the knockoff? Right. I'm going to take the thing that is almost as good as what I want, but it costs a little bit less and that's fine.

There's, there's some things, especially when you're shopping for people around this time of year, you have to, you have to do that for, right? Yeah, you can have the name brand this and that. But you know what? No, I'm not buying you the Apple branded, uh, AirPod holder. You're going to get a $5 one from Amazon and you're going to like it. Yeah, sure.

It looks like Gucci, but that you don't stand for Gucci. I'm all right with that. But that's the thing. They're not in a position where they needed one guy to come save them. What they needed was to fix some of their weaknesses from last season and they're addressing those. And that's what's happening right now. And they didn't do anything to dramatically change the chemistry that helped them get where they got last year.

I mean, Gino, everything we've heard. it is unbelievable clubhouse guy, right? Yeah, yeah. And that Seattle's going to greatly be hurt by his departure. And sometimes those intangibles are just as important as, you know, oh, could we have gotten a guy that hits, you know, 30 points higher, a batting average. What?

Yeah, you know, maybe the chemistry is just as important. I think last year's team proved that. Yeah. Chemistry is just as important sometimes as high-end talent is. And you're literally talking about like three, you hit the ball three percent of the time more, you know, or whatever, right? But yeah, there are intangibles like that, just like the intangible of Gino being able to play third base every single day for an entire season, which Toy LaBala will never allow. But still to have a guy over there that's capable of that solves the rotating door issue that they had all season long and even in the playoffs with third base. Well, and again, you know, if Lawler's the guy you're looking at as your future potential.

potentially at that position. This is a guy that takes the pressure off of him. If you go in. He'll get you there. He'll fill that gap between now and then. If you went into spring training, you're like, hey, young guy, you got to do this because, well, we don't have any other real option. That's not fair to a prospect to put them in that position.

This way, you, like with fought, you give them a runway to grow into what you want them to be on a consistent basis if that's where you're looking at the future. I love these movies. because they're smart, they fit within the budget, and they build upon where you were last year. So if you can have a hot streak like you did at the end of the year last year, now you got all these reinforcements to help you. Dirtbike Boy 714. We are going to get to your super chat here in the second segment. But I like that question, and I'm going to very much try to do my best to convince you why the Diamondbacks don't need Otani.

But a guy who they do need is a guy that Ken Rosenthal reported today that the D-backs are one of two teams along with the Seattle Mariners, once again, us and the Mariners, hand in hand, trying to make a deal for Jorge Soler work. And obviously, the first most important part about this is he has two E's in his name. So, again, it's permissible to talk about him today. But he would hypothetically solve the Diamondbacks outfield need potentially, like he's not great there. But he did play 31 games in right field for the Marlins in 2023. He would also fill in at DH and be their regular DH. And the man just absolutely hits the cover off the ball. We know that.

Do we have the baseball savant page? Because again, I talk about how I look at Judy Martinez's page every night before I go to bed. Well, this might be a good one to also look. Look at all that red. Look at all that red. The man just smashes the baseball. I feel like this is what Jesse looks at every night. Correct.

He just looks at baseball savant and it's just what he loves. It's his kink. It's his free time. He's like, you know what? I'm going to go check out J.D. Martinez's one more time. You think he locks the door while he does that? Probably does. I'm going to draw myself a nice bag.

Get some candles going. He really sets the mood. He really does. Like, you know, I don't know what music Jesse would listen to. I'm guessing some light jazz or something, maybe. You know, I don't know. Kenny G. I feel like Kenny G.

With a little baseball savant. Yeah, absolutely. He's got the picture of the sick rap force on the top. on the tub like it's just a nice a nice glass of milk in a wine glass I feel like this is just nice yeah look at all that red oh yeah sweet spot yeah

72% oh hey give me that's yeah oh yeah but of course disturbing thing yeah we're yeah this is what we can do this is what we do in Jesse's not here he's should know better than to be on the show flavor your Friday It was a big for some odd.

There's a lot of fun about Jorge Salar. And again, I mean, he might cost a little too much. He's projected to sign for two years, $32 million. And again, if the Diamondbacks are sticking to that budget that they said that they were going to stick to, that would pretty much tap them out for spending this off season, which might not be, you know, it doesn't always have to be a split deal, right? A big part is the $14 million. They still owed a bum gardener this year.

So, you know, you'd factor in that maybe. Maybe they could backload it for the second year or something like that. But at this point, you sign him, even if you're tap payroll-wise, what else do you really need to address? It's not a huge amount you need to address at that point. And then you can address it via trade, which Hazen has been great at. I see Jesse. Sorry, Jesse. Yeah, Jesse caught us.

He caught us. Right when he thought we weren't watching. What did I do to deserve this? Yeah, that's very true. But yeah, no, what you were saying is, is very true. Like, he does address so many of their needs that, like, again, what more do you need? I mean, there are a couple of things I'm sure they would like. I'm sure they would like a better outfielder as far as the defender goes.

But, I mean, I think last year we didn't have very nice things to say about Lordis and his defense. And he ended up being one of the better defenders in baseball as far as outfielder. are concerned. I mean, Jorge would be the, I'll just say it, the best DH and Debex franchise history.

Have you seen, did you see the stat line, the slash line last year at this position? 219, 291, 387. That ain't good.

Yeah, that ain't great, Bob. Yeah. But I feel like you overpay a little bit if you need to, because this makes you significantly

better. I just think the only problem is what you just, you know, obviously what you just pointed out is a huge problem, right? But I mean, you also have the fact that, you know, you do have some options out there that we discuss like Martinez and Justin Turner. And those are guys that as a DH, they're not going to be as powerful as Salar, but they're going to deliver more consistently. And I feel like with the struggles we saw with the way that Christian Walker, who was their big bat, kind of disappeared in the postseason, that Soler, the risk here could be that he's another one of those guys. that the slash line isn't going to be great. His stats aren't going to be great. He's going to drive in some RBI and hit some home runs. But, you know, I just, I don't know if, you know, maybe going for someone with that consistent bat as far as getting the hits might be the direction, especially if it's going to be cheaper, right? Like, again, like JD. But are you looking, are you looking for power in your DH? Or are you looking for that consistency?

I think that's the question. And what's the Hazen-Levela strategy there? You probably lean to more consistency, right, based on, you know, especially that consistency is going to be a little bit cheaper than going for, I mean, again, this isn't a very risky deal, two years, $32 million. But, again, that's a lot of money to be putting in essentially someone that isn't going to play outfield every day and is going to be your DH.

But does that matter that much anymore at this point? Is that, to me, that feels like old NL thinking, right, before the DH was there. Yeah, like it was like you're almost a pinch hitter kind of deal. D.H is a regular role. It's just, as Jesse pointed out yesterday, Tori does like to utilize that role as a way to get guys off their feet and just still keep them in the lineup

without having them be out there in the outfield. So like the idea that they need an everyday DH might not be even what Tori necessarily wants. Or is this where Tori has to learn to get out of his habits a little bit? Yes, to evolve. There's another e-word for you. I mean, because sometimes that's just part of this, right? A manager has to look at himself too and go, where can I change?

Where can I improve to take that next step? It's not just my lineup. It's how I handle my lineup. And maybe this is a nod to that's not necessarily the best strategy for them and that they do need that power. because yeah sure Christian Walker was that power and he did tail off so where was your second power bat not really didn't really have that at your D.H. Corby Carroll yeah I mean if you have that at your D.H it's it's security for when you hope both of them don't you know go you'll lose all power and their bats at the same time so one's one's off other ones on well you still got that threat in your lineup so maybe that's the thinking here too I'm going to put you on the spot. Solair or JD. Don't do that to me.

No, I'm going to do it. It's JD Martinez for me every time. But most of the time, if you're going to put him as the other option, that's going to be the one I take. Because I love J.D. Martinez in an irrational way. You know, like in a kill bill kind of way. Cizza, that song, you know, like, you know, I have a therapist that tells me there's other men out there, but I don't want them. So you can't even look at it from a baseball perspective. It's like a pure, like, familial, like love.

It's an upsetting, completely biased point of view that I will never be able to get past as a journalist, a host, or as a human being. He looks at pictures of J.D. Martinez in a D.Backs jersey the way that Jesse looks at baseball. Correct. He's right. There's a J.D. Martinez poster behind my office door at home. And it's there on purpose because I close the door. You walk the door when you watch the four home run games highlights. God damn right. I do. That is pornography to me, sir. And you know it when you see it. Yeah, that's right. Look, for me, for me, I think you got to go solar, right?

Well, if it's for no other reason than the puns. The puns, you have to appreciate the pun game. I do appreciate the pun game. Solair power. I mean, yes. And you're in the valley of the sun. The valley of the solar? Like, I mean.

We call all this home run, Solair flares. Yeah, I mean, and, you know. A solar eclipse when he has a bad game? I mean, there's, there's so much you could. do solar panels Damon hey we have panels no that was my

old podcast name do not start stealing my stuff here all right I'll let a lot go but that's where I'll draw the line I'm all for that especially you know with with our new radio booth we're going to need

we're going to need pun we got to embrace the pun right this is a new world order that we're looking at so oh the headlines are right themselves the headlines are yeah I mean your thumbnail game gets that much better. He's here. I just, I like his game. I like the puns.

I'm in on it. Spend a little bit more. I'm sorry, Ken. You're going to have to open the wallet a little bit further than you might have wanted to, but guess what? You don't make money unless you spend money. And the only way to get people in a ballpark in this town is to

win and be a contender. And that's what you've got to prove to people you are. What they are trying to do, which is kind of, you know, what we heard again, differently from the Sons is they kind of went in a cheaper direction, right? They have that ballpark pass now, which honestly is the best value in all of Major League Baseball, and it allows people to get in there, right? You would rather sell that pass and have people sign up for it and come to games and fill

these empty seats rather than having that airplane hanger of a stadium half empty, especially if you're going to make all those renovations and make it look all beautiful next season. You want it full of fans. Fans bring money, even if you're giving them seats for free. They bring men into the ballpark. They pay for parking. They pay for... I know if I get free tickets to an event or cheap tickets,

I'm that much more apt to go buy merch or go buy stuff right. That's why you're the mayor. You get those free tickets. You're right. You get treated like... Oh, let's get out of here. Don't get out of here. Local sex symbol, ESMO, right.

Nobody's ever accused me of that. I don't believe that for a second. You want to, can't give a little story time? I know we're... No, please. This is what, come on. What are we going to do? Talk whip?

What I? Who am I? Jesse? No. No. Look, what your kink is is on your own time. I don't know about WIP, all right? Look, for me, when I was at the suns during the dark days, I pitched this exact pass idea to our marketing department.

I'm like, we got nobody coming here. Why don't we just sell a path where you can go as much as you want in a month? It's a flat fee, and your hope is people don't show up at certain time. So you still have the inventory that you can sell to other people, but you're making, you're making, you're making, money. I said, why are we not doing it? Especially on an app where you can like decide if you want to go so that the team has an idea if you're going to attend

so that like you said, those tickets are available for other people or whatever, right? I got laughed at but I'm glad the Diamondbacks embraced this concept. Let me ask you this. Just curious because this is something obviously the Diamondbacks have to deal with and I understand it. Like is there a point where like

oh well we'll get opposing fans in the building comes into like the marketing thought process or is that never really on the table? I mean with the pass? No, I'm just saying in general when you're like struggling as a team where you're trying to be alluring to anybody to get in the building no matter who they root for. Yeah, at some point you are okay with leaning into that. Yeah. But, you know, at least in my experience, I hated it as a.

Well, like people hate the versus dog. You know what I mean? And that's innocent. That's literally just saying like, hey, we made a hot dog that's kind of like from the region of the team we're playing. And people are like, that's placating to the fan base too much. As a fat guy, I'm like, hey, I get a different hot dog every series. Let's do this. But, yeah, I don't like when you play when you try to market to the opposing fan

because there's something sacred about your home field advantage. Right, right. And I'd rather, and obviously it ain't my money. I'm not Ken Kendrick, but I'd rather have a half empty stadium than a full stadium with two-thirds, Dodgers fans. That does not do anything for me building a brand here. That just gives me a short-term

pop cash flow-wise, but actually hurts my long-term branding. My goal is to turn those Dodgers fans into Diamondbacks fans because you live here and I'm going to give you a reason to be a front-runner this way rather than that way. Yeah, no, that's a great point. Because we know Dodgers fans are all front-runners.

That's very, that's very, That's very true. We also have the fact that, like, again, that pass kind of helps with that, right? Because you can't just transfer your tickets to someone else or whatever. So you're not just selling your season tickets to whoever wanting to buy it. And, again, allowing those fans to take over. So, yeah, I agree with it. Don't start.

Don't start me on people selling season tickets. I will not. I will not. I know how you feel about that. But I also know how you feel about Heila River Resorts and Casinos because we had a very good time there. A great place for a staycation. That's a great place for any time. Any time, right?

It's a great place for any time, especially when you need to get away. Like, you really do feel like you are out of the valley and you are gaming and experiencing an unprecedented level of entertainment and excitement that you won't find anywhere else. Not here in the desert, at least, right? Because sometimes you've got to travel to Atlantic City or Las Vegas for that kind of fun. Forget that. Yeah, it's right down that. I mean, they've got multiple locations. Right.

Wild Horse Pass is right down the 10. You can go there and have a great time. and surprisingly good food because usually other places I've been not great food. I've had great Italian food, great Asian food at their great American fair. And that's why I love staying there. I love staying on property to a place where I can go and eat at multiple like place. Like that's why Vegas can be great, right? Because it has all of that right there.

But why do that? Why go over there? Vegas is crowded. It's terrible sometimes. You can experience all of that great fun here in Valley. And of course, they do offer the dining. options that Espos talking about. They have the state of the art gaming floor and so much

more so. Head to Heela River resorts and casinos and let them show you what the next level is all about. You do you at Healer Riversorts and casinos. Visit play atheila.com for more details. Thank you. We don't use the you do you slogan enough on suns. I love that. You do you. Yeah.

You do you and go out there. All right. You do you and you can do it any way you want. You can go just for a night. Can have a great time. Bingo. Bingo is a blast. Everybody's like bingo is an old person thing. Maybe I'm a an old person now. But Midnight bingo goes hard. It goes crazy. Midnight bingo isn't an old person thing unless they're getting up

for breakfast. Exactly. That's a young person. That's how you need out the old people. You put it at midnight. You want to staycation for your baseball savant? Stay two nights. That's right. Who do you? You and your laptop. Just in a hotel room together, having the best time. Also, speaking of best time, check out BetMGM. To have the best time when you're watching sports, you can download the BetMGM Sportsbook app now and use RCO to PHNX and you can

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Sign up for bet MGM today. Use that bonus code of PHNX. Place your first bet MGM sports book wager through the sportsbook mobile application of at least $10. If that bet loses, your bonus bets will be available once your initial wager is settled. Check out the show notes for full details. And now listen to Shane. Talk about the disclaimer. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler, Colorado, D.C., Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Jersey, New York. Call 877-5-0-0-1-1-1-1-1-1-7, Louisiana, New York, Michigan, New York, New York, Michigan, New York, New York, Michigan, 8-8-1-1-1-7-1-1-7 for confidential-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-O-R, Michigan.

1-8-8-1-8-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-O-R, Ontario. Ontario Espo doesn't know that one yet That's fine No I do get stuffed Ontario because they have no fun He doesn't a different direction No they have no fun in Ontario

It's voiding Ontario Why is it voiding? We're talking Ontario California Ontario Canada Yeah It's Ontario CA one way or another And I don't like it That's true

It's very confusing It's very confusing It's almost as confusing As this entire Shohei Otani situation Which also it also involves Canada California.

Yeah, California, Canada. They're both in on it. It's a big conspiracy here, I think. But speaking of conspiracies, MLB trade rumors did not help things out by posting this screenshot of essentially an article saying that Shoheyotani has indeed signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. Blue Jays to reportedly sign Sho Hayotani. Trade rumors put that out. Did they, I believe they deleted it? Did they delete the tweet, Damon?

or is it still an active tweet that exists out there? I'm pretty sure it's still active. Oh, my God. In the article, though, it says that there's conflicting reports that like he has not made a choice. There's being one of the conflicting reports there. But, I mean, this is crazy. The way, of course, the Otani, I mean, we knew Otani was going to be a big deal. We knew this was going to kind of happen.

I don't know if we really knew it was going to hold up the baseball free agency world the way it has. I mean, it has kind of put everything on hold. I've said a few times that if I'm an agent for one of the top pitchers in baseball, my client is not signing until Otani signs because no matter what, there's going to be five, maybe six, maybe seven teams that had put aside Otani money for Otani. And now they're not getting him. So they might just be that much more apt to now pay your client as much money as you're seeking.

I'm surprised that there hasn't been more activity from the, people who are that next level below knowing that once that dam breaks that there's going to be in some ways it's going to shake up things like if if i can get my money now from a team i just go do it right i take it now and let let the chaos right because at some point there's going to be musical chairs and some of those teams waiting for otani are going to have nobody left right and if they're smart they're not going to overspend on it i was going to say maybe they're not going to budget their otani they're not putting that money aside for just anybody it's for otani and should it not otani not be available they're not going to spend it yeah and you know i actually

think this is good for baseball i get that the slowing the the hot stove down isn't it is an idea at the winter meetings you want a lot of things to pop but people are talking about where's show hey otani going to go and i heard a lot of people oh this guy's so secretive he doesn't want things leaked. I think that's good too. There's a mystery to it. We talked about it coming off as pretentious a bit. Some people feel it's pretentious and it's like it's probably not Shohei Otani

making this decision to keep it secret. It's probably an agent thing or you know what I mean? Like you never It could be him. I mean, it seems like it's a private person. Right. And it could have gotten blown out of that like he asked for it to just kind of be kept private and then like then that announcement becomes an announcement and now people

are blowing that out of proportion because again he's he it seems to be one of the biggest things in sports that's you know ever or not sports but in baseball that's happened in a long time like I just don't think this is a big thing in sports right right like I can't think of this happening too often where it kind of the decision where guy's going to go kind of compels not only that sports fandom but like it's transcended to like pop culture and there's a lot of people that don't know much about baseball that know show hey otani is is that that that big decision is happening and what it's exactly what baseball needs It's a good point.

Baseball's marketing has always fallen short of the other sports. They tried to live off of the fact that baseball's America's pastime. Well, guess what? It's been lapped in that case. It has. It's not. It has. You got the NFL, the NBA does better marketing.

This kind of situation, they should be thankful for it. And I get it. It doesn't follow the unwritten rules of baseball. And it shouldn't take this. I don't care, right? I don't care about your unwritten rules. What baseball needs is an injection of interest, of intrigue. That's what this is doing.

And if it takes a month and a half, baseball should be thankful for it because it keeps baseball being talked about in freaking December. Right? And that's not something that usually happens. You get a few days of interest around winter meetings and then it's dead. Well, guess what? Shohei Otani, much like he has on the field, breathing some life and interest into your offseason, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Well, things have gotten this out of control with Otani. You have this tweet talking about Twitter detectives, essentially looking at flight schedules and figuring out that there is a private jet schedule. This is from Jim Bowden, that there was a private jet scheduled today at 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time at John Wayne Airport in Anaheim, and it was going to Toronto. So, of course, people know for a fact that there's no way a private jet could be flying out of the Los Angeles, California area, going to Toronto without it, in fact, being Shohei Otani. 100 bucks says this is Drake. Waiting for Shoah to sign.

No, Drake's going to. But you know what Drake's going to do. He's going to throw on Blue Jays jersey. He's just going to wait on the tarmac all day long just to see if show A shows up. Well, did you see the other one? Somebody reported yesterday, I believe it was it was either the Blue Jays GM or one of their higher-ups had rented out a sushi restaurant for 35 people. I think it was last night. And everyone was like, oh, well, it's got to be a celebration dinner, right?

Turned out it was his wife's surprise party. Yeah, and you guys ruined it. You ruined it. You ruined those fries. I love this, though, right? This is part of the fun of it, right? And then the absurdity. When have you seen this before?

like LeBron signing. Like that was one. The NBA flight tracking, this stuff has, this is normal in NBA off-season. This is a standard for exciting sports that people are interested in. I mean, this has become kind of the norm. It may be new to baseball, but we've seen elsewhere. Sure. The one that reminds me of this, though, most recently, Aaron Rogers.

Oh, yeah. What is he going to be trade? Is he now? Where is he going to go? You know, all these, all these things. He's going to make the announcement on Pat Matt? He's got to be in a silent retreat in darkness for three days trying to figure this out. I mean, Chohay's in a different kind of his own isolation of his own doing.

But it reminded me kind of that. But again, this is good for baseball. It is good for baseball. It is. Connor says low-key stocker behavior, never change baseball. It is. It is low-key stalker behavior. And I'm not going to at all call it anything other than that.

Isn't all sports low-key stocker behavior? Yeah, we are stock. Yeah, that's exactly what we do. Like, it would be weird if we covered any other job. Like, if I worked at my old job in the banking industry and people just had statistics on, you know, my error percentage. Or your salary for that. Yeah, yeah, you know what?

That guy doesn't deserve that $25,000 he's making. Absolutely not. It's soccer behavior in sports in general. We know what they make. We know exactly what they do at work. We know what they live. We know who they're married to. We know who they're dating.

Dude, they're dating. Yeah. It's stalker. It is true. It is true. I remember when I first heard that Corby Carroll was dating Miss America. I was like, oh, good for him. He achieves good things on and off the field.

I was so happy for him. Speaking of, again, of all of this stuff in Otani, we do have that super chat. I wanted to get back to, Damon, if you could throw that up on screen. And this comes from Dirt Bike Boy 714. He asks, tell us why we don't need Otani and leave out his Tommy John injury. And I will. I know a big part of it for me personally is the Tommy John injury and the fact that he's not pitching next season. I think that the Diamondbacks have two windows that they need to kind of time frames, windows, if you will, that they need to pay attention to.

The sooner one is the Zach Gallen, the Merrill Kelly, the next couple of years, basically doing everything they can to capitalize on the success from last year and build on it and understand that they have a team that's ready to be competitive, ready to be a contender. and if they can add those pieces to it now, they can, they can, you know, really do that. They can really be a team that's in the playoffs over the next five years consistently if they keep up on this roster with the core that they have. But now with that being said, you can't just put that all in the one guy. And it's not just the money that you're committing to next year or the following year. It's the amount of money that the Diamondbacks are committing to Otani or any team is committing to him over a 10-year period of time.

The Diamondbacks just aren't a team that have that kind of money. And if you get into a phase where they miss the playoffs or where they have a losing season and they're not over 500, then all of a sudden that starts to look like an albatross around your neck. It starts to look like something that's going to keep you from being able to go out there and continue to improve that game or that team, right? Like Otani could potentially handcuff a team on what they spend in the future and how they improve it. And then that team just ends up like the Angels, a mediocre team with two of the best players in baseball on it. but those two guys aren't enough to win championships because baseball is just not that game. Basketball, maybe, because there's five guys out on the court and two guys being out there together can really cause havoc against an opposing defense.

But baseball is a nine, you know, nine guy thing. And it does require a whole team to be pretty good in order for them to be competitive. Yeah, I mean, quarterback in NFL, you could argue that. But you're a hundred, you know, goaltending in the NHL. I think you could argue that. But you brought up and hit the nail on the head. what is he won? Yeah.

I mean, he had Mike Trout as his teammate in L.A. They had two of the best players, and I get it. It's a nine-guy thing. It's who's your bullpen, all these things. But that's exactly the argument why you don't spend $60 million on one guy. Correct. Because it's, you know, I don't think he's worth it. Yeah. And baseball is just hard.

Baseball's hard because you do. You pay a guy $15 million because he can hit the ball 28% of the time. instead of 24% of the time, right? Like that's literally what you're talking about with some of these guys. And I know breaking it down to that basic of a figure, it kind of trivializes how good some of these guys are. But still, that's what it can come down to, like paying that much more. So if you can get a bunch of guys that are maybe mid or a little bit above mid, right?

That's better than having those superstars on your team. That's where kind of all your money is. And then everybody else is a below average player. Well, especially when you're trying to build homegrown superstars and some of these guys. Right, correct. It obviously looks like Corby and Carol will be one of those. But the other thing with Otani is it doesn't fit Hazen's MO. Yeah.

This is not Hazen's Way. Yeah. And Hazen's Way got to the World Series last year. And diverting too much from it, I don't think, is a smart thing. I think we've seen this franchise do that too often. They do something in the playoffs or they make the playoffs where maybe they weren't supposed to. And then they go, oh, we're going to make this big splashy signing and it doesn't work because it goes against what their larger strategy was and they just throw it away. And that's not the way you build something.

You stick to a strategy. You make small adjustments based on where you are and maybe you spend a little bit more sooner than you meant than you were planning to. But you don't throw the entire strategy out to go chase one big fish because like you said, baseball is more than one guy. and you do that, you screw yourself, especially in a market where you have little margin for error with your salary. In a sport that has no salary cap, you know, and you're self-imposing what you can spend based on what your franchise can afford. You can't make a big error. Yeah. Because, you know what happens?

You wind up not being able to dig yourself out of it like we've seen. It takes five years to build it up the right way through the system. And if you repeat the cycle, you've screwed yourself again. Yeah. Yeah. And Otani feels a bit like buying your spouse a car, like one of those commercials where they put the big stupid bow on it. Right. Don't get.

Okay. Hold on. Wait. Those are the dumbest commercials ever. I know. I know. And also, all I can think when I see those is, what did he tell the rest of the family? Sorry?

Here's your stuffed animals, Susie? I bought your mom, Alexis. Like, what are we even doing here? You know, if, if Otani were like that, it would be like, Mike Hayes in signing them to 60 million without telling, telling ownership. And then they just show up for the introductory press conference and go, surprise. And then all of a sudden they look at the bank account. They go, yeah, but you just spent all that money.

Mike, can we talk about this really fast? You know, that kind of thing, right? We didn't have that budget in. I know you bought this for me, but we share a bank account. What the hell are you doing, right? Well, here's another metaphor for you and you'll like this because it's a food metaphor but it's like Mike Hazen's strength isn't in going out and getting those big names right his strength so far has been in doing a lot with very little bringing guys over from other other

organizations that they kind of gave up on like Ryan Thompson finding guys within the organization in the minor league system he's like he's like that guy where you open up your refrigerator and you go god we have nothing to eat and he's like say less get out of my way and next thing you know he's making like some sort of you know shrimp scampy with fresh garlic and butter without shrimp somehow But it's incredible. He used soy, and it was just as good. But, yeah, no, I mean, there's something to be said about his ability to cook, if you will, without all of the ingredients or without the most expensive ingredients, right?

He makes you an awesome meal. And then you're like, what was that? He's like, the base was Kraft mac and cheese, son. What? Yeah, no, but I honestly think that's the better way to build in baseball. The Yankees have won one title since 2000. Yeah. Right?

Like, yeah. This isn't, this isn't the 90s and early 2000s where you just buy the title, right? I mean, you could argue. Several teams showed that last year. I mean,

yeah, I mean, the Dodgers, yeah, they, they play well. They got one, but like it's,

it's not the way that you win. It's being smart. It's growing your talent. It's taking your shots when, when appropriate. And that's the way, the way you win, especially in a smaller market in this.

Yeah. Like what the break. are kind of doing you know braves are they just did a good job of locking up their talent to long-term deals when they were young and when they were still in that phase and you know they have them they have themselves a solid team for a number of years you could argue but the diamondbacks have that now too considering that a lot of what made them good are the guys that are going to be here for a while that are age 23 24 years old that are going to lead the way at least for the next five years for this team that's a satisfying feeling because you know who your core is and you know that you can

build around those guys going forward But, you know, again, like the suns, right? I hate to bring this up because it makes me hurt. But, you know, there's times where I can't stand that we traded away McKell Bridges. And I am one of the biggest Kevin Durant fans on the planet. So I am conflicted when it comes to moving on from your young talent that you felt like was part of your core and was going to be for a number of years and bringing in those big superstars in order to try to get you to that next level. But sometimes the reason you sign, like, Like the Braves or like the dimebacks did with Corbin,

and no, I'm not suggesting they should move Corbyn. But sometimes when you do that, is so you have the flexibility in the future to move a guy like that on a good contract to get what you need. Yeah, that's a good point. Right? And that's the smart way. And I think that's what Hazen is doing.

I love the moves that they've made. And that's why you don't chase a guy like Otani. Let the Toronto Blue Jays do that. Let them go that route. That is so the best case scenario for the Diamondbacks. Like get him out of the National League. Keep him out of National League, I should say. Keep him in freaking, you know, in the ALEs.

Keep them as far away from us as possible. Yeah. And look, would you rather be what the dimebacks have accomplished or the San Diego Padres? Yeah, that's a great point. And it's that simple to me. Yeah, that's a great. I mean, San Diego leveraged everything.

In this New World Order with the TV money drying up. to a certain extent at least by 20% if you go with MLB like you can't afford to make a mistake like that yeah yeah I agree I agree well you guys can't afford to make a mistake like missing out on going to circle K to get yourself from gas obviously we know gas prices are dropping and we we're all we're all loving that but if you want to save even more on gas sign up for circle K's inner circle program you can join for free right now by downloading the circle k app terms and conditions apply at participating locations. Visit circlek.com for details.

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give me another player. You get it replaced. I don't know who has to give it up, but find me one. Give me him now. I love it. Exactly. You just can't get that these days.

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Get yourself all the wonderful shirts over at the PHNX Locker.com. Get one for free for signing up for that diehard sale, which practically makes that membership free. I mean, we're talking about a $35 shirt and a $60 yearly membership. You'll get not only discounts at the PHNX Locker.com, but you'll get all sorts of other great stuff like access to our Discord lounge, which is the best place to be in Arizona sports fans. So good. We got Jesse's newsletter, of course. We've got so much more to offer.

discounts with our partners. You sign up for that. Illegal Pete has a little present for you right out of the gate. So do not miss out on the opportunity to join us over here and become part of the family. Jesse's mailbag. They're just also. Jesse is worth the price of admission. He really is. He really is. Because here's the thing. At 3 o'clock in the morning on a Tuesday, you can go into the Discord lounge and you can ask Jesse a question about Steve Finley's 2002 season. And within 20 minutes, Jesse is contractually obligated to respond to you. So where else are you going to get that kind of access to Jesse? And little known fact, he actually reads it as well in the voice of Greg Schulte.

Yeah, it's true. It's true. We've asked to record it and he refuses because he said he won't do the voice. But it's pretty good. It's pretty good. Other things that are pretty good include today being the final day for MLB doing something great for stand up to cancer charity. It is their final day of their winter meetings auction to benefit stand up to

cancer. And there are a number of incredible experiences to bid on, including experiences with the Arizona Diamondbacks. There's an exclusive meet and greet with basically the whole damn team. You get Zach Allen, you get Corbyn Carroll, you get Perdomo, and you also get Christian Walker and Gabrielle Moreno. Includes a photo op, autograph memorabilia, a meal for four and tickets to both batting practice and a regular season game. They have a same thing with just Corby and Carroll, should you not want to hang out with those other guys. Do I get is there one for Ken Kendrick? There absolutely is not. I want to have a beer with Ken Ken Ken Ken. I want the Ken Kendrick.

Can I get an experience where I've been on Ken Kendrick coming here to the studio to drink beers with us and hang out? Because that's all we want. We love you can. I'll donate to whatever charity you want. But that we can get close because there is the opportunity to experience a day in the life of Arizona Diamondbacks manager, Tori Lovel. And if that doesn't include drinking beers, then what are we even doing here? Are you required to go to his? Burns and Gambo hit.

Yes, you are. You're also required to go to a pregame basketball shootaround with Tori Lavallo on the field where you will play a game of horse against Tori LaVolo. I want to murder Tori LaBalow and horse. I want to put, I want to hang

every letter on him without getting one bag. Does he wear that? Was it a Booker Team USA? Yes. Does he wear that? Oh, I'll wear mine. I'll wear my matching one. Let's go. You also get a chance to swim in the pool. tag along for the manager's media availability watch batting practice from the field and enjoy the game with premier seats okay let me ask this it's swimming in the pool do i get a run from the dugout hop the fence and jump in the pool all right then i'm in that's the experience but here's the thing Danielle will beat you in a foot race out to the pool so that's part of the experience as well you have to dodge to the security that's very true just imagine hanging with tory for a day how great would that be like tory seriously seems like there are some like experiences like that where i'm like i don't really know, Tori, that's a no-brainer. Take all my money for that experience. I want them to auction off

Tori helping and put up my Christmas lights. I would pay good money for Florida. Oh my God. Oh my God. Tori coming and helping with my Christmas lights. Are you kidding me? That is amazing. I would pay for that experience. That's absolutely, absolutely. You hit the nail on the head with that. What would one around this office? Okay. I right now, the highest super chat. No, I can't do this. I was going to say could host a show with Derek. Could host Monday show Jesse. Oh, yeah. How about that?

You have talked baseballs-a-up with Jesse. The highest bidder right now is Super Chats. Absolutely. I don't know what it would be like. They could wear the mayor sash for a day and be the mayor of PH&X? No, I'm not doing that. I refused to do that. I did that with Shane and it came back with stains on it.

Well, that's Shane. Yeah, no, you're right. You could go into the Four Peaks mini bar and record shorts and additional content for us. That's what a life following Salt Bookman is like, you're going to go and you're going to that and you do supplemental content for us. Well, JSU sports with Anthony Toadry. Oh, God, it was soul crushing.

That's a punishment. That's a punishment. No, but if they win, then he's going to treat it like a championship. Oh, yeah. That's pretty fun. Yeah, that's incredible. That's incredible. We got to get down on this.

You could help Leah write down all the numbers and then for our month. No, you have to go do. If you win the experience, you have to help Jacob go through and do all of the copyright violations on YouTube for our music. That's what you have to do. Nicholas, do a trick with the Mullet magician. He doesn't work here. He just shows up out of nowhere.

He's a dirtbag. He's a smoke. Does some chinty magic at least. He's not even on the payroll. His tricks are terrible too. I'm just going to put that out there. I'm just, after he films that, he shows us all how he does it. It's terrible. He's not a good magician at all. People are like, oh, it's Pete. I don't know who this guy

is. He shows up. I'm on uncomfortable with it because sometimes the doors locked and he just magically shows up. I thought it was Bo Brock for a while, but I think I could be wrong about that. Of course, if you are interested in bidding on this stuff, go to MLB.com slash winter meetings auction. And again, that auction has been a big success, hopefully for them. And I think someone's going to have a lot of fun with the day and the life of Tori Lavello for sure. Hopefully you can help them make the lineup. That would be fun.

How about we go steal the corporate card out of sales wallet and help a good cost? Yeah, we got to go. We got stuff to do. And speaking of stuff to do, I have an Arizona lottery scratcher to scratch. So we might win enough money right here, right? I believe I have a coin over here. You got a coin, too. I got it come right here.

Damon told me this is his lucky coin and that he would murder me if anything happened to it. I said it's my last one. I had three. Two have been stolen by doing exactly things like this for adrees. You're so weird about it, though. And then I said, this is my last one. If you steal it, I will find you. Yeah.

I will end you. Yeah. I'm in here. Look, he's giving you more than this pocket. Oh, look at that. What a great thing is while over here. I think you play outfield. We go crazy when it comes to the Arizona lottery stuff around here, folks.

We don't mess around. And these Arizona lottery tickets obviously make incredible stocking stuffers. If you're a last minute shopper like Jesse, they make great gifts for procrastinators to on whatever you're going to. But not just that. They make great gifts all the time. I'm still trying to win some money here. Jesse wants 50%.

I'm sure ESPO's going to want to cut. Hold on. Unlike Derek, you should gift to these things. I'm the guest here. And he just goes, I'm scratching this bad money. I am scratching it.

Yeah, I'm scratching it. And let's see, did I win anything? Didn't win anyone on this one, but next time. Next time, we will.

See, and it's probably because I'm being selfish and not giving them away. That's probably the reason why I need good karma with that. We've bought like $500 worth of these things. Something's going to hit big and and,

and not tell out. Yeah. See, we didn't win. No. When you see me do this, live on air, all right, guys, I got to go. Then you'll know that I won it. If I say I didn't, I'm a liar.

But, of course, that's the reason why it makes it so hard to give these away to other people. Just remember, baseball is more fun with a giant stack of cash. Bye! Yeah, because you can win up to half a million dollars. And again, who do I want to give half a million dollars to? I don't like anybody that much. But we're going to try. And I'm going to give them away this holiday season.

You should to go out and buy your holiday scratchers today. find a retail like our friends at Circle K near you at Arizona Lottery.com. You must be 21 years or older to play. And last, of course, we're trying to do all of your holiday shopping for you here. Foco.com is the place to go for the bobblehead lover, the sports collector in your life. They have the best sports and entertainment merchandise with a product line that includes apparel, toys, collectibles, novelty, and so much more. But most importantly, I can't get over their bobbleheads. They're bobbleheads.

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Use the code PHNX for 10% off. They always get me on that one, but PHNX10. But all right, that's all we got. Espos, you're the man. I appreciate you, as always, we're coming through. So Jesse will be back on Monday. I will not. It's my wife's birthday this weekend.

So I just wanted to take a moment to wish a very early and a very happy birthday to my favorite person in the whole wide world. Happy birthday. Yeah, that's right. Happy birthday. Of course, in the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at cap underscore caveman. This man inexplicably has ESPO as his Twitter handle, which is just incredible. I had to threaten some people pre-Elon at Twitter.

I get it. I get it. Good job on that. You secured the bag. Damon is at Damon dog. That's DAWG. He is the people's producers, and we are Damon's dogs. Roof, Roof. Perfect. Nailed it. Of course, our show is at PHNX underscore D-BACs, but all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore sports.

Max came over here and tried to do a breaking news thing, and that's why he's banned from the chat. He's banned from the chat. And he deserves it. And that's the reason why he's banned from the chat, as you guys can all see, tried to come over and do a breaking Otani thing. The son of a bitch, Max. But anyway, all right. Well, we appreciate you guys again.

All roads do lead to at PHNX underscore sports, like I was saying. We thank you for your time. We will see you. Well, I won't on Monday. Neither will I. We're both not going to be here on Monday. But again, we thank you again for your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun.

But it is so much more fun when you don't spend all of your money on Show Hey, Otani.