PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - The Shoe Wizard behind the curtain

Episode Date: December 9, 2021

On this episode, Jesse and Derek are joined by Jack Sommers from AZSnakepit.com to discuss his history with the D-backs, his thoughts on their off season acquisitions, and his unfortunate prediction on when this team is going to be competitive again. 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 to the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, of course, officially known as your mayor of PHNX. And this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Drafking Sportsbook app. Go download the Draft King Sportsbook app now. Use our code of PHNX. And simply for betting $1 on any NFL team to score, you'll get $100 in free bets, should they do that thing of the scoring thing. Thank you guys so much for joining us.

Of course, I am joined by my vice mayor. my co-host, my friend, Thunderstake, Jesse Friedman. It's not just me today, Derek. We have another friend with us here today. It is not. Another, and when you say friend, I couldn't mean this more. One of my personal friends, one of my favorite people to take slow walks around Chase Field with and chat about life. It's the one and only Jack Summers from AZ Snake Pit.

Jack, what's happening, buddy? Hey, great to see you guys. I agree. I know, right. Get back out there and do some walking again soon. I know, I can't wait. I can't wait. And as far as this lockout is concerned, things suck.

And I can't wait for baseball to get rolling again so that we can get back out there walking and doing our thing. But baseball minor league transactions are still happening. Despite the Rule 5 draft being pushed off, there was some talk that it might not even happen this year, but it's been confirmed that it will happen as soon as the lockout ends. So we will still have a major league rule five draft. but today we had the minor league rule five draft and the Arizona Diamondbacks did not get any picks in that Rule 5 draft because as Jesse explained to me, their AAA roster is at capacity. There you go.

There you go. Yeah, it's a little, I know it's confusing for people. Everyone probably had it in their head. You know, the Rule 5 draft is off because of the lockout. But yeah, this was not the Major League Rule 5 draft. As you mentioned, this was the Minor League Rule 5 draft. and the Diamondbacks would have had the second pick in this draft, but like you said, their AAA roster was full,

and so they didn't have anywhere to put anyone. But they did have three players that were taken from them in the process, which I'm sure we'll talk about Andrew Young, which of course is kind of the headliner name here, and named Diamondbacks fans are certainly familiar with, along with Matt Brill, a pitcher from AA, and Ben Deluzio, who's an outfielder who's been in the organization for quite a while. So three players gone.

They didn't bring anyone in. Not together, not altogether very surprising, though, considering their roster was full coming into today. So the way the Rule 5 draft for the minor league's work is that the draft goes on until all teams are satisfied as far as there. Is it, what is it, is it a 25-man roster for the minor league? What's the AAA roster set to? I believe it's 38. Is that right, Jack?

I believe so. Yeah, I'm not sure of that. number. Yeah, 38, I believe, is the magic number. I don't know where that comes from. It's such a random arbitrary number, but 38 is the number that I've seen today. Like so many things in baseball, Jesse, it's a random arbitrary number. But the Miami Marlins actually went five full rounds, taking five players.

They only seem to take five players in the Rule 5 minor league draft. And yes, you're right about the players, the Diamondbacks lost. These were players that they had no way to hold on. and we pretty much knew that Andrew Young was going to be taken away, I think, in this draft. Yeah, I think it's a little tough, you know, for the debacks to have to lose him this way in some regards. Because, you know, he came over in the Paul Goldschmidt trade, of course, and he showed a lot of promise with his power in the minors. Unfortunately, you know, in his two stints in the majors, he had two glaring issues that kept him from establishing himself. He couldn't really establish himself defensively.

He wasn't really very competent to any defensive position that they put him in, and he was striking out too much. He's got a lot of power, though. And if the DH comes into effect next year, it's not a bad right-handed hitter to have stashed on your AAA roster. There you go. There you go. Another notable D-BACs player, or player connected to the D-BACs at one point,

is John DuPlanter, who was taken from the... Didn't we just talk about him two days ago, Derek? He talked about them. Isn't he a giant now? Isn't he on the Giants? No, he is now a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jesse. He is now a Los Angeles Dodgers. If you're a former DVAC's prospect, right?

I mean, he's moved quickly. Next week, he's going to be playing for the Colorado Rockies. And by the time the season comes around, he'll be a San Diego Padre, it feels like. But, yeah, John DuPlanter is on the Los Angeles Dodgers. And as Jack said before we got on air, there's another guy that will probably be biting our pillow about, especially now that he's part of a quality organization like the Dodgers, who absolutely convert guys into major league stars. They do this all the time where they pick up players that have kind of been discarded from

other teams, and it would be no surprise with his promise and his sealing that there once was for DuPlanteré that the Dodgers do that with him. It's bad enough that he ended up in the division in the first place, but tend up on the Dodgers, just insult injury. I know. It really, I don't, I'm curious what you have to say about DuPontier, Jack, and just his, his career as a diamond back. It feels like, obviously, there's a history of injuries with Rice University.

It just seems like pitchers there have had issues, you know, over the last, over the last, there's a pretty decent track record there as far as I can tell. But yeah, he just never was really able to put things together at the big league level. There were stints here and there where he kind of looked like, you know, the top prospect. that was at one point, you know, a big potential trade piece for the team when they were going after Mani Machado and looking at doing other things as well. But now, you know, Diamondbacks fans yet again, we've been in this position a number of times where a pitching prospect just doesn't pan out for one reason or another. What's your take, Jack, on what you've seen DuPontier do or not do over these

last few years. Well, you know, when he was in the Arizona fall league, I was pretty impressed in 18. Yeah. I got to see him pitch a number of times. The stuff looked great. You know, he was dominating. He was blowing guys away at the top of the zone with his fastball, located in his curveball. I mean, you know, he just, he looked really good. And I was excited when he got called up. But like you mentioned, the injury bug number one, first and foremost, was just following him around from his years at Rice. And it seemed like almost an inevitability. And then really in 2019, I hate to be hypercritical, but I've written about this before.

I think the team completely mishandled him as well. I mean, you already know you have a guy that has these issues, and yet they yanked him up and down five different times in the 2019 season in and out between rotation spot and bullpen roll, you know, and never let him get a proper innings buildup in a methylotic, you know, methodical way. Yeah, yeah. And so I just think that it was, it was horrible the way he was mishandled in 2019. I told Jack about the story I told on the show the other day about DuPlanter just being

on the street corner outside of Chase Field with his bags. And just, I don't know. I, again, it might have been a miscommunication. there might have been a lot of different things going on there, but I think when you paired it with how much he was called up and sent down that season, it was just, I mean, that photo of him standing there could have been a representation of his time with the debacks,

just standing on the corner outside of Chase Field, yet again with his bag, ready to go down just so he could come back up eventually a few weeks later or even a few days later in some cases, definitely. I agree with that. And Jack, I really, we really need to get into your history, obviously, here, because I know you're a writer, obviously, for AZ Snake Pit and a dear, dear friend of mine,

but I wanted to talk about your history with this team and your history with baseball. I mean, I'm aware of it, but I wanted to kind of let everybody else in on kind of your time with this team. Well, really, I was living overseas for a long time, a big chunk of my 20s and 30s. from 1979 through 2000, just had always been a baseball fan, had always been into baseball analytics, really, since I was a kid playing stratomatic baseball. I learned how lineups worked and probability and all of that.

It was a great simulation game when I was a kid, played with cards and dice. Yeah. And I simulated an entire season based off the 1971 season when I was like 12, 13 years old. Wow. And kept all the stats. And I learned really young.

I thought I was a nerd as a kid, Jack. I was going to say, I am in a room with some savants at a young age when it comes to this game. Well, it's funny. I was still playing the game at that point in my life. I played through junior high and high school and all of that. And so I would come home from practice for the games and then went up to my room before dinner and, you know, play a couple of games real quick. and keep the stats and keep the score, you know, just start figuring everything out.

You really have to love baseball to live your life like that. I mean, I was born in Cooperstown, dude. Yeah, there you go. My God. You're like the Jesus Christ of baseball or something. Like, was it Immaculate Conception as well? No, I mean, this. I've actually had to bring my birth certificate to the bar a couple of times to prove her

because when I've said that people are like, yeah, right. Yeah, right. Oh, man, that makes too much sense because it's in your blood, you know? Like I'm sure there's some kids now that come home and, you know, play fantasy baseball or hop on their PlayStation and play MLB the show after coming home from baseball practice or whatever and just live that life from sun up to sundown. But I don't know. I guess, I mean, I think about me, I was, I was always a basketball kid myself when I was younger. So I did do that with basketball. I mean, I remember going out during a halftime of Sun's games and playing a quick.

you know, fake game in my driveway before running back in and catching the second half. So as much as that sounds amazing, I guess we all kind of had that thing that we loved so much that, you know, couldn't get enough of it. Yeah, basically. I mean, it was tough to follow all those years living overseas. Again, stratomatic baseball, I used to buy it every year right up until my 20s. You know, and then when I finally repatriated back to the United States in 2000, not long after, I got involved in some message boards.

I don't know if you remember the Diamondbacks bullpen.org. Prior to that, actually, we used to chat on AZ Central. Okay. And then AZ Central shut down commenting. Yeah. And so Jim McLennan, who runs AZ Snake Pit at the time, helped us set up a message board. And through that message board, I started meeting a lot of people online and blogging and writing and putting in my analysis,

all the things that I had learned over the years from reading Bill James and just watching the game and following it like a nut. And in 2005, a fellow that runs the Diamondbacks broadcasts from the stage, the stage producer, the stage manager, a guy named Scott Snyder, who's also a dear friend,

he reached out and invited a bunch of us to the ballpark one time because he had been followed, our threads, he'd been following our game threads and the things that we said and wrote. And he thought it was a lot of fun and interesting. So we, like a dozen of us ended up getting invited up to a conference room and a guy that did analytics at the time for the Diamondbacks named Jim Cassandro. He came in and talked to us first.

And then Mike Rizzo, who was director of scouting at the time. He didn't get the GM job. Josh Burns did. So Mike went and took the assistant manager general manager job at the, in Washington, of course, the rest is history there. But Mike was a big favorite of us, you know, because the Diamondbacks had so many prospects at the time. They had an elite list of players ranked in Baseball America's top 100.

And, you know, just through all of that, we made contact. And the next thing I know in 2006, Scott invited me to the booth to help do stats and scorekeeping for the on-air talent. Because he'd seen what I was writing and that they'd, things I was putting in the game threads and he just thought I'd be good at it. The fellow that usually does the stats, Kurt Zucker, you know, he'd need a time off once in a while. And also later on, he ended up working down in the broadcast truck for about a year while somebody, a woman was on maternity leave. So they needed somebody in the boot to do it. And through 2006 and

2007, I did that part-time. And had a blast doing it, you know, working with Grace and Sutton. sometimes with Joe Gargiola. And, you know, it was really a blast. And a big part of what I did was write pregame scouting reports and information for the broadcasters to be able to use during the broadcast beyond just head-to-head stats or whatever, you know, the basic stuff. Those reports started getting circulated and became popular and eventually ended up in Josh Burns' hands.

And Josh Burns offered me a position. position as an analyst in their front office, doing stats for that. And next thing I know in 2008, I'm actually working for the Diamondbacks as an analyst. So that's kind of how I got into it. You're like, I did it for two years. That's like a last, a wonderful time. A stat nerds dream as far as I'm sure. That's incredible.

A majorly baseball stat nerd. And I mean, I don't know. I think we all did that. I think sometimes of my time on message boards about sports and pro wrestling and the fact that I'm here doing this stuff now is crazy to me. But you got to work for the team doing it and providing your insight to them based on the fact that you were doing such good analytics work on your own. And I just think that's incredible.

I really do. I think it's incredible that they noticed it. you know, and acknowledged it without having, I guess, your typical, you know, qualms about reaching out to someone who might not be working in baseball or, you know, like some teams would require that you actually had experience in baseball to bring you on in some sort of role like that. And I find it to be fascinating that they didn't need that, that they just, you know, enjoyed your work and thought it was good enough that they wanted it.

to be part of their team. And that's fascinating to me. Yeah, I'm forever grateful to both Derek Hall and to Josh Burns for giving me that opportunity. And of course, Scott, my friend that got me going in the first place. So, you know, it's been a fun ride. I left in 2010 to go back to Asia, take another job in the shoe business because the money was too good to pass up. And the financial crisis and the real estate crash gave me a hit. Yeah.

So I went back over and fed the kitty for. for another six years, and I came back in 16. And then by the time I came back, you know, the regime had changed and a lot of things had kind of almost passed me by. You know, what they need now is different than what my skill set is, really. And so I'm not so sure about that, Jack.

By doing the writing. And that's happy to do it. I've read your stuff. I've seen your stuff. And I've seen and had conversations with you. I'm not so sure about that. I don't know if the game, like, I compare it kind of,

to Brent Strom where I think you have a lot of experience, but you have always been a person that's embraced analytics, embraced the numbers behind it, and saw the importance in translating it over to, you know, baseball players for their success, right? But also, like Strom has said, there's a way to translate it. And that's kind of someone like his job is to take this information and make it more palatable for, you know, a baseball player to take it, rather than being this daunting, you know, information and series of numbers. But before we go on, I just want to remind everybody that they can use whatever analytics and numbers they want to use to go on in the Draft King Sportsbook app,

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And that code again was PHNX for betting one. $1 on any team to score and winning $100 in free bets instantly if they score. 21 and over only, Arizona only gambling problem, Dow 1-800 next step. New customers only, eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com slash sportsbook for details. Getting back to Jack Summers and his incredible experiences in baseball and beyond. Now, you worked in shoes, right? That's what you were doing overseas, both was that originally and on the most

recent trip over where you were just referring to? Yes. When I first went to Asia in 79, I went to Taiwan and I was teaching English and just kind of slumming around. I took a break from school. And then I ended up getting into the shoe business, meeting my wife, starting a family and staying there. And so after, you know, I started as a quality control inspector, just walking up and down

the stitching lines and checking the upper stitching and making sure everything was as best as I could tell and then made a career out of that. And when I first came back to the States, finally in 2000, after 21 years of being over there, I'd been in Taiwan and Hong Kong, I'd been traveling in mainland China from 1985 onwards. I'd learned how to speak Mandarin Chinese throughout all of that. And then when I went back in 2010, I actually went and lived in China full time. prior to that, I was living in Taiwan or Hong Kong and traveling in and out of China periodically. But in 2010, actually lived in China full time for about six years.

And that was also on the shoe business. So that's kind of the background on that end of it. And that's how you became the shoe wizard, obviously. Exactly. Yeah, I'm not humble about my accomplishment. No, no, not at all. Not at all. Just go right to the shoe wizard.

Were these, I'm just curious, because I don't know if we ever talked about this, Were these like tennis shoes, boots? Oh, every kind of shoes you can imagine. I mean, I've worked for different companies. Some of the companies I worked for were trading companies that had different divisions for men's, for women's, for outdoor, for athletic. I worked for Rockport and did those kinds of shoes. I worked for New Balance and ran their opera. The last four years I was over there, I ran New Balance's operations in China.

That's interesting. So it's all manufacturing, sourcing, product development, pricing, quality control, overseeing all that part of it. Nothing to do with sales and marketing. Okay, got it. Well, I was going to say, obviously, you fell in love over there meeting your wife. But did you, when you were there, did you kind of fall in love with China while you were there living there? And, I mean, is that what made you stay so long?

Or was it just getting ricken into work? I had that experience in Taiwan. I mean, I really fell in love with Taiwan and the people there, you know, just the whole culture and atmosphere. Of course, I was very young, you know, I was in my early 20s and so adventurous and exciting. But, you know, the people there are just so friendly and outgoing, warm and, you know, fun to be with and love to party. And, you know, so it was, that part of it was great.

China was different because when I first started traveling in China, it's the early middle 80s. And they had just opened up. And I mean, you know, half the people were still walking around in Mao suits and they hadn't really, you know, become what China is today yet. So that part of my China experience was a little bit different. They were a little bit more innocent, really. They were just kind of opening up to the world. Yeah. by the time I went back in 2010, you know, it had just exploded into what you see today already.

And it had become very materialistic, you know, which it wasn't that way when I first started going there in the 80s and early 90s. And they kind of lost their soul a little bit along the way, in my opinion, as the way the government's run things over there. I don't want to get political. but, you know, it's just really become quite a different experience. So it's hard to say I fell in love with China, but the people always wonderful. I mean, you know, the people in both China and Taiwan just always treated me really well. And I had a lot of fun with them and learned a lot over the years. And, you know, it felt like I was able to contribute in both societies too as well.

I mean, the work that we did employed a lot of people and all that. All right. All right. Well, and I guess the reason why I ask is I just, I, I, I, I, I'm so terrified sometimes, despite all of my travels to think about going somewhere and, like, you know, setting roots elsewhere. You know, like, I have lived in Arizona the majority of my life. I've, I've had my share of adventures. I've gone elsewhere, but I guess I always kind of find it fascinating when someone leaves, you know, and goes to another country and decides that that's where they're going to live. We all have free will, right, over our own actions.

It just seems like such an odd thing at times. But I also understand it because places I go, I fall in love so easily. Sometimes it's not even big international cities. Sometimes I just go somewhere right here in Arizona, you know, like Williams or, you know, one of those kind of smaller towns. And I instantly think like, I want to live here for the rest of my life. This is what I want my life to be. Are you leaving us for Williams? No, I'm definitely not.

Never. No, never, not doing that. that but I do this has been bothering me this has been I have lost sleep over this this is living in my head rent free it's like what it's like it's like it's like the end of the movie lost in translation where we don't know what Bob whispered to Charlotte and I need to know this Jack what was your conversation with Tori Lavallo's daughter about I'm sure it was innocent I'm sure it was just nice passing conversation but we we played it on this show. We talked about it

because I thought personally that it was just a small peek into our relationship with Tori. I think as people in the media, we definitely have a relationship with Tori and I think Tori is an absolutely outstanding individual

to cover and interview and interact with, right? I remember not too recently you had said something to him before you asked a question basically saying like I hope not to offend you with this question. And I think before he answered, he stopped and said,

he didn't ever want you to say that again because he knows you're never going to be offend, you know, you're never meaning to offend him or anything like that. But I, when I heard you say that, I so feel the same way because Tori at times does feel almost like, you know, a friend or like a coworker at times in this job that we do covering this team. He's so personable. He's so easy going. He's so easy to talk.

to. But more than anything, I feel like he really does talk to us in a very friendly, you know, like I said, like a coworker type way, right? And I felt like the best example of that was when he asked you to speak to his daughter because he was vacationing with his family in France. And he just, he got so excited to get you to talk to his daughter. He was like a little kid. He was like, no, hold on. Well, Jack, I need you to talk to my daughter. I need you to say something in Chinese. And I just, I love that clip so much because again, it just, it's so, it's such a great. And then it's scap it's what he's like. I mean, he's so human and he shows interest in other people and he's got such an intellectual curiosity about all things. So I mean,

that you're, you're hitting the now and the head of what, what he's like as a guy. Well, he and I had some people don't let us in like that, right? I was going to say some people don't let us into their personal lives like, like he does in this instance. Well, he and I had chatted a couple times. I told him a little about my background and I, you know, and it came up that I spoke Chinese. And his daughter had studied and, and studied overseas. She,

she speaks Chinese wonderfully. Incredibly. So well. Yeah. Not that we would know. I said to her, I said, how are you enjoying Paris like having fun? That was, that was the main point of it.

I said, you know, is Paris a lot of fun? And she's like, oh, yeah, it's really a lot of fun. And, you know, and then, you know, I just introduced myself. by my Chinese name and she introduced herself by her Chinese name and you know it's just we complimented each other on our Mandarin

and it was very brief but yeah you all you guys you guys both speak well like Jesse said obviously I have no clue I have no clue if you guys are pronouncing words right I've no you guys could have been making up crap yeah we wouldn't have had any idea you'd have been like it's beautiful it was

beautiful their pronunciation is so beautiful but it was a great moment I love I love stuff like that And yeah, it was, I knew it was going to be just pleasantries, but I just had to ask. And I'm sorry for prying too much, but I needed to know. No, not at all. So getting into this Arizona Diamondbacks team,

I wanted to get your thoughts on what they did during the off season with their coaches and the few players that they picked up. Do you think that this actually has a chance over to translating into success on the field next season. I think that above and beyond any expected improvement simply due to, you know,

positive regression to the me. I don't know if that's a problem. Jesse, you can tell me if I can even say it like that. Yeah. Yes, you can. That's fine. That's fine. Yeah. But, you know, we know

they're going to probably going to win more games just by getting out of bed, right? Yeah, exactly. The coaching staff hires appear excellent. I think, you know, uniformly throughout the industry, everybody feels like they did a good job there. I'm on that same song sheet. You know, I'm very impressed by the hires.

I think that they found, you know, obviously an excellent pitching coach in Brent Strom. I think that Jeff Bannister's really going to complement Tori a lot for what he needs as his bench coach. I don't know a lot about Joe Mather, you know, but it seems like a pretty solid hire. and I liked the way he interviewed, and he seems like a highly intelligent guy, but, and, you know, he's acutely aware of the need to translate concepts to players as players. So I think all of that's going to play well. Of course, they got the best coach in the business back in Dave McKay, which is like making a new hire because they didn't have him last year.

So all the way around, I think that the coaching staff is going to be very strong. As far as the player moves, I mean, they did two major things. They got Jordan Loplow, of course. And, you know, he's a right-handed bat. He's got some power. He takes some walks. He can play a few corner positions. He's not overly expensive.

And I don't expect him to move the needle much, but they needed some right-handed power. And I don't know what's going to happen and how that's going to impact Christian Walker. That remains to be seen, even though they tended him a contract, whether or not he's going to be on the opening day roster. There's still a question mark in my mind, whether they trade him or find some trade value in him or they still decide to release him at the end of spring training, which they could, you know, and only have to pay a quarter of his salary if they release him before the season starts.

So, you know, whether or not they need both Walker and Laplow is questionable. The Mark Melanson deal is the one that's interesting here. And, you know, I think that when I first heard the news, I had a typical reaction of, you know, many like armchair quarterbacks that just, oh, man, he signed another 37-year-old closer. Closer, huh? Right, right. For a team that didn't have many closing opportunities. That's interesting. Yeah, you know, what's the point here?

You know, why for a team that's not going to need a closer, that was my initial reaction. Even so much as like, you know, one of the snake pit threads, somebody. he said, oh, you know, Hayeson signed another old Band-Aid closer, and I pulled up the jiff of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, you know, to kind of simulate Mike Hazen struggles with his closer choices over the last five years. But something kind of important. I wasn't there when Mike did his Zoom, but I went back and listened to it on MLB Press Box and listened to it really carefully and transcribed the whole thing.

And this, can I read this quote? Please. Yeah. Yeah, please do. So this was the part that really stuck with me. Part of when you were talking about rebuilding for an extended period of time with a young roster is how do you teach the young roster how to win? You teach the young roster how to win by winning baseball games. By being in situations where the pressure is on and we come through when it matters.

I don't think you can just snap your fingers. and have that happen. I don't think you can build a really good team in one off season. So look at the multi-year nature of this is a reflection of where we're hoping to move to, not just now. And I emphasize some words there, you know, a little bit more than Mike did. Yeah. But I think he's being really honest here.

You know, I think he's not just giving you GM speak. And you've got to really look at what he said. You know, this isn't a one-year deal. these guys got to learn over a period of years how to win baseball games how to play in pressure how to execute in tight situations and you know having a closer that can come in and and actually do the job is certainly going to help them learn how to do that even if again it's not just about where where they are now it's where they're trying to get to you know by the time this team is in a ready to compete for the playoffs window mark milanson is going to

be gone. But the fact that he's able to help them win some close games potentially is going to help the younger players on this team figure out how they get it done later on down the line when it really matters. I think that's his thought process. And then the other part of it, you know, Mark's not, Mark Melanson's not a rehab project. He's not coming off injuries, coming off a couple of two, three really good years. So although he's 37, he's been very solid. Whereas, you know, the previous four or five closes they brought in all were coming off down years or injury years and so forth so there's that aspect to consider and then finally you know he's only making six million dollars a year not that much yeah and you know you're not going to get anything that's really going to move

the needle for the team as far as a starting pitcher for six million dollars unless you get really lucky right um and you're not going to move the needle with a position player and they got to spend some money so this is as good a place as any and it's achieving something hopefully that won't necessarily show in the balance sheet in 2022 as far as how many total wins they had or did they get to 500 or over 500 but more about getting the team's culture and the ability to learn how to win turned around that that's what so i'm i'm i'm in i'm in on the deal do you do you think jack i'm curious a lot of people look at this and say you know great they've got

someone to trade come July when Mark Malanson probably has a good first few months and he'll probably be, you'll probably draw some interest, right, from some contending teams out there. That kind of almost seems to contradict what you're saying about, you know, teaching the young players to win. In that sense, what Mike said kind of makes it sound like he wants Mark Malanson here more for a cultural reason than for anything else. But it's a little hard for me to believe that come July, if Mark Malanson has a number of suitors, that the diamondbacks wouldn't look to make a move there. I think it's important and remember, you know, one thing about Mike Hazen is, you know,

he wants to win. I mean, obviously he keeps trying to win. I think that sometimes they may have avoided reality a little bit by being a little stubborn about it. You know, it's a feature and it's a bug, right? And I think, you know, thinking about Mike's off-stated thoughts and philosophy, I think that he intends to keep Melanson the whole year. But, you know, if they get to July and they're 20 games under 500 and, you know, the team's floundering, you know, obviously he'll do what he needs to do at that point and to try to build the team up further. But if they're, you know, five games under 500 and exceeding expectations, then I think he'll really.

roll with it. I think also, too, just in regards to that, he's cheap. So he's not like other free agents in the past where they kind of wanted to part ways with them due to their contract and they didn't, you know what I mean? Or they were just worried someone else is going to take them at the end of the season. So they want to try to get something for them at the trade deadline. I don't think that's going to be the case with Mark Malanson. But I also think the dive-in-backs, like we said about Cotell Marte and Carson-Kelly aren't going to not list the offers on anybody. So, it's always a strong possibility that if they're not doing well, they could part ways with anybody at the trade deadline with the way that this team is built in, and, you know, as far as

the direction they're going with the youth movement and everything like that, they might be targeting farther than 2023 as their deadline for being competitive, which isn't unrealistic, but it's something that fans don't want to hear, right? Fans don't want to know that their target for being competitive is, over two years down the road, three years down the road. They want to at least believe that it's closer than that. And I understand why, you know. I wrote an article about this a month ago.

You know, it's since basically divisional play in over 50 years, right? There's been two teams that finished with a win percentage under 350 and had a 500 record or better the next year. And both happened in the 80s. 1980 Oakland A's and the 1989 Baltimore Orioles. Nobody's done it since. No team to finish sub 350 win percentage has even finished 500 since 1989. Never say never, right?

You know, insert that there's still a chance mean right now, but the odds are so stacked against this team even achieving 500 in 2022. And in the analysis that I did on that, I mean, with the exception of the Astros, who were on their third straight season being that bad. And then two years later, they were competitive, you know, to the point of making the playoffs. But, you know, that's what it takes, right? You know, that tie down to the studs tear down. You know, the odds are pretty against this team, even getting back to the playoffs by 2024.

But, you know, that's just how long it takes. This is a multi-year deal. and you're breaking precedent, you're breaking history if you do it any faster than that. Let's do that. Let's break history. I don't want to wait that long. Never say never.

Jack's bringing the optimistic takes. You hear that, ladies and gentlemen. You're going to be lucky to be in the playoffs by 2024. And here I was drinking the Kool-Aid about next season. But Jack, we thank you so much, man. We appreciate your time. And definitely, we're going to have you back. so we can chat some more baseball.

Talk about this lockout a little bit more next time, and maybe we can get your thoughts on, on, you know, what we might actually see implemented in this new CBA. But we're definitely have you back on soon, bud, if you have time for us. And we appreciate it. We appreciate it so much. You guys can follow Jack on Twitter at Shoe Wizard 59. And again, he is a writer over at AZ SnakePitt.com,

our friends over at SnakePit. So thank you, Jack. We appreciate your time so much, my friend. Thanks, Derek. Thanks, Jesse. Look forward to seeing you guys again soon. All right. I look forward to our walks again. We've got to get walking around that stadium. Definitely. All right, man.

All right, Jesse. Well, I want to remind everybody we have our, my latest piece up at go phnx.com covering the collective bargaining agreement and how they could potentially see the diamondbacks still get that number one draft pick or do the total diamondbacks thing and end up with the third overall draft pick after all of a sudden done. Derek, my take on your article is that, you know, it was very insightful. And yet also, I feel like when like it just is so you because you're just so obsessed with the whole tank season, the Elijah Green. It's just so on brand for you, Derek, to come out with this with his hot take about how the diamond back still have hope of getting the number one overall. I'm holding on to hope, Jesse. I'm holding on to hope. I want Elijah Green.

I mean, you know, as a matter of fact, we had a comment today that Elijah Green is not the surefire number one overall draft pick. And I completely agree with that. I completely agree. I just think for me personally that he is a great fit for this team. And I want to see this team draft him. I want him to be their top overall draft pick. So that's my hope. My hope if the Arizona Diamondbacks do not end up with the number one draft pick that they,

that someone else doesn't draft him and that he goes second or third whenever the debacks can. What I will say is the total debacks thing, I guess, really would do, would be to move down to third, have Elijah Green fall to them, and then still not draft him. That would be the alliance. That would be the debacks thing to do to me personally. But you guys can check out that article over at go phtnx.com. Become a member. You can become an annual member.

and for 5999, you will get an annual membership along with a free t-shirt over at the PHNX Locker.com. You guys can keep the t-shirt for yourself and give the membership away and keep the membership for yourself, give the t-shirt away, and keep both for yourself. You know why? Because you deserve it. And I want you guys to do whatever you want to do for yourself. Treat yourself this holiday season because remember, as we get older, there is not as many

people that are going to treat us as well as we need to treat ourselves. So go get yourself a membership. And if you don't want the annual membership, you don't want this sweet, sweet merchandise that I'm holding up right now that you can't see because this is an audio only podcast. You can still get the month-to-month option. You'll get your first month for just 50 cents. Go have a little taste. See if you like what we have. See what we're offering over at go phnx.com.

And hopefully you'll stick around and become a member for life. That's what we want from you. And of course, Jesse has some stuff coming up. Jesse had a wonderful breakdown about Mark Millet. lansson that got rave reviews so please come check out our writings and our scribblings we love you and we'll also uh join you in our members only discord we'll get you our free members uh or members only discounts over at the phnx locker and you know we'll grow this thing over at p hnx together we can't do it without you and we appreciate your guys's support so much uh before i let you go

i did want to give you my draft king's pick of the week uh i forgot to do this last week jesse And so I am going to make Cowards Parley. I'm going to make up for it by giving you two this week. This first one is a pick of the week for Thursday night football. And yes, Jesse, you're right. It's another Cowards Parlay. This one's at plus 600. It's going to score you a little bit of coin without being too dramatically,

without too much risk. I am taking Najee Harris as an anytime scorer. I do not believe in Ben Rothlisberger in the cold, even if I think they have a dome stadium in Minnesota. I don't care. It's still cold. I'm going under 249 and a half yards for Ben Rafflesberger. And I'm taking the over 43 and a half points because, again, it is an enclosed stadium.

So the weather isn't going to impact it as much, but I don't believe in Ben Rathlisberger. And neither should you. That's a fascinating take there, Derek. Yeah. If you want, I'll even throw a first of five points. on the Vikings for you over there on that one. If you want to add that into your parlay, but remember, the more legs you add,

the more money you win. So whatever you want to add to that parlay to make it even better, you can do so over at the Drafking Sportsbook app. And remember, use our code of PHNX and you will get, if you're a first time user, you will get $100 in free bets for betting just $1 on any team to score any points.

And become a member over at go phnx.com, of course. we thank you guys so much for listening we can't thank jack enough i will have we will have jack back for sure because jack is an incredible just such a fascinating guy like he's a fascinating guy he's a he worked in the shoe business in taiwan and china for like 30 years the more you talk to jack the more you're just like wow this man is incredible the layers he's it's the onions he's the layers of onions that that you peel back that is jack summers but we can't thank him enough for joining us of course, again, you can get him on Twitter at Shoe Wizard 59. I am at Cap underscore Cape Man with a K.

Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Bex. But of course, all roads are to at PHNX underscore Sports. And that is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We thank you guys so much for listening. If you're listening to us right now on your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe to us there. Leave us a five-star review and then go over to YouTube and subscribe there and sign up for

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And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you can bet on it.