PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - The UBER RICH New York Mets sign Carlos Correa after medical issues arose with the Giants

Starting point is 00:00:02 Hello and welcome in to a brand new edition of the PHNX D-BACs podcast, where we are thrilled that we don't have to deal with Carlos Correa and the NL West for 13 years. I am your mayor of PHNX, occasionally known as Derek Montia. This is my friend. What are you? I want to say sidekick. That feels like a little... That's a little demeaning.

Starting point is 00:00:26 I don't know about that. Vice mayor? Vice man. That might even be demeaning, but the one and only thunderstick, Jesse Friedman. Jesse, Carlos Correa. Gone. I mean, the big news of the day is clearly that Jake Lamb signed a minor league with the Los Angeles Angels. I don't know what you're talking about with Carlos Correa.

Starting point is 00:00:42 Jake Lamb, another minor league deal. No, what a wild 12 hours it has been for the world of baseball. It really has. Me and this guy, we're up at 2 o'clock in the morning text messaging each other if you want to know what our night was like. But of course, this show is brought to you by the fine folks of the Draft King Sportsbook app. America's top rated sportsbook app. While you were sleeping, the Carlos Correa saga took a wild turn. Of course, I guess starting with yesterday where we discussed that the Correa introductory press conference for the San Francisco Giants.

Starting point is 00:01:13 We did. We did mention that. Right. It had been postponed, which was weird. And they didn't really give a reason why. Apparently it was a one sentence letter statement that went out from the Giants three hours before the press conference was supposed to take place. Korea even had an interview planned with the San Francisco Giants flagship radio station, which got canceled. All of a sudden, you know, these flags start turning red really fast, right?

Starting point is 00:01:41 A source told MLB.com's Mark Feinson that the team was waiting on results for unspecified tests. Yeah, it was just a wild string of events here that led to all of this. So, yeah, basically what happened is, right, this was eight days ago, the San Francisco. Giants agree to a deal with Carlos Correa, 13 years, $350 million. We talked about the deal then. We were very sad about it. The implications of having Carlos Gray in the N.L. West and, you know, the Diamondbacks may be looking up at the Giants in the NL. West, at least as far as how you might project

Starting point is 00:02:14 things to go next year. And apparently, the Giants didn't really execute this contract. They didn't actually make this official official. And like you said, the press conference where he was going to meet the media was canceled, initially for an unspecified reason. And it turns out, as sort of expected, that there was a issue with Carlos Correa's physical. And the Giants did not like what they saw on that medical report.

Starting point is 00:02:39 Ronald Bloom of the Associated Press reported that a medical issue was flagged during Correa's physical. And then it sounded like from reports there was a disagreement, if you will, between Correa and his agent, Scott Boris and the San Francisco Giants about, I'm guessing the implications of this injury or maybe the severity of the injury, right? Yeah. And what's weird is we don't even know, to my knowledge, we don't know what they were even worried about on this injury report.

Starting point is 00:03:07 There's sort of some speculation. You can look back at Carlos Cray's injury history and kind of try to figure out what it might have been. Susan. Some back issues, right? Yeah, he's had some back issues. I believe Susan Slesser reported that the back issues were not the hold up here. He had surgery for a fractured fibula, I want to say.

Starting point is 00:03:25 when he was like 19 years old back when he was in the minor leagues. But other than that, I mean, Carlos Correa in general has been a reasonably healthy player. He hasn't, he hasn't, yeah, he hasn't missed a whole lot of time. So this sort of thing is kind of normal, right? One doctor looks at a report and sees one thing and another doctor can look at that same report and see another thing. We hear about, you know, obviously second opinions all the time. We also hear about players that potentially could have season ending injury,

Starting point is 00:03:53 that then they just kind of do some rehab and end up. not doing that thing. So medical advice can vary. That's one thing we have to remember. Let's stop posting these videos of doctors from the 1980s and thinking that they have any kind of clout. Can we do that? Can we do that? They're just people. Doctors can just be people. In this case, these people had a disagreement. John Heyman reported that the Giants and Correa's camp had a difference of opinion, if you will, on the results of the physical, prompting agent Scott Boris to consummate a new deal with Mets owner Steve Cohen. And I don't want to say we're prophetic around here,

Starting point is 00:04:26 but Jacob, if you could please, here's a little clip from last week's show where we might have given you a hint that this exact thing was going to happen. Let's go. But speaking of money spent, let's take a look now at some of the free eight or the biggest spenders as far as free agency goes.

Starting point is 00:04:42 I like to call these guys the Santa Claus of the holiday free agency season. Of course, we have the San Francisco Giants now outspending everybody. with the Carlos Correa deal in the New York Mets just a tad behind. Do you think this bothers Steve Cohen?

Starting point is 00:04:58 Do you think that he needs to spend more money than everyone else? Yeah, for sure. He's going to go sign, you know, some guy to some like minor league contract with an invite to spring training

Starting point is 00:05:09 or something that has incentives that could push the Mets over the giant $1.5 million. Yeah, yeah, just enough, right. You were right. He's going to sign some guy,

Starting point is 00:05:19 that's for sure. Didn't know it was, not a minor league, not a minor league contract, exactly, a slightly larger contract than that. More importantly, John Heyman has broken Giants' fans' hearts more in the last month than any reporter I know in the history of the sport of baseball. Yeah, John Heyman, of course, he was the guy who reported Aaron Judge to the Giants. Arson Judge to the Giants, correct, correct. And then, of course, that wound up not being the case. So he was wrong in that sense, breaking Giants fans hearts.

Starting point is 00:05:52 I bet they wished he was wrong on this one. And then in this case, he was actually right, breaking Giants fans' hearts once again. And I know last night there were some people maybe somewhat concerned, like John Heyman was really the only one reporting it, at least initially. Susan Slesser also reported, I think, soon thereafter. But yeah, I mean, when John Haven is reporting something, but you don't hear anything from Jeff Pass and or Ken Rosenthal, I think a lot of fans are maybe taking that with a grain of salt. but in this case, John Aiman nailed it.

Starting point is 00:06:22 And, yeah, Giants fans probably don't like that guy too much anymore. You said this tweet came out around 1230 at night our time last night. Like I said, Jesse and I could not sleep after this. So this is 2.30 in the morning on the East Coast. So the vast majority of Mets fans were probably asleep when this happened. Terms of the deal are a $12-year, $350 million deal with the New York Mets. And the most important part, again, is that he is out of the NL. West. That's a key that we need to drive home here because the Diamondbacks were going to have to deal with Carlos Correa, a very, very good player for a very long time.

Starting point is 00:06:59 Looking at this from the San Francisco Giants perspective, they were going to sign what they thought was a very good player to a very long contract. Now, I mean, I don't hate the fact that they didn't go through with this deal, from an outsider perspective, at least. Because do you really want to pay that much money for that length of time to somebody that could potentially have a questionable, questionable health or durability issue? Yeah. That's the one thing you want. I think it's fair to wonder if, like, yes, the physical played a role, but also did the giants just kind of get cold feet at the last second? And like maybe they kind of use like, yeah, we saw some stuff on the physical we didn't like. That's how it's being reported.

Starting point is 00:07:39 So I'm inclined to think that that is the case. It was all just a matter of health. but I think it's at least possible that, you know, maybe the Giants got cold feet and didn't want to execute this deal when all was said and done. But, yeah, from the DeBax perspective, I think this probably helps. Not a ton. You're probably, you know, there's a chance you're in the mix with the Mets, you know, for a wildcard spot. So the Mets getting better doesn't necessarily help you. But also it's going to be really hard for the debacks to beat the Mets anyway, you know, given all of the other moves that they made.

Starting point is 00:08:08 Whereas now that the Giants don't have Carlos Correa, I think the Dbacks actually. actually line up pretty favorably with them in the NOS, although that's still still pretty close. And we're going to have to see what the Giants do now. Maybe the Giants get more aggressive in some other areas now that this deal has fallen through for them. I think when you're talking about what you just said about if maybe they got cold feet, if maybe this was something that the Giants really didn't want to go through with on there.

Starting point is 00:08:30 Yeah. It's important to wait to see if they make any moves, right? However, to contradict that point, they, well, no, here. Here's what by thinking that they had. You're just going to contradict me. Okay, here's why I say that that wouldn't be a good idea, probably not part of their plan, is because they had Carlos Correa for like a week, right?

Starting point is 00:08:51 Like you said, like eight days from the announcement or whatever. Aaron Judge for seven minutes and Carlos Greya for eight days. It's the worst roster moves ever. But my thought is they really took themselves out of contention for other free agents that were signed during that period of time, right? That's the only reason why this wouldn't be a wise move on their part to now back out of the deal and expect to be able to nab someone up. Because to be honest, most of the big names are off the board.

Starting point is 00:09:17 Right. More importantly, the New York Mets kind of have something that might interest in Arizona Diamondbacks going on as well. Because the Arizona or the New York Mets now have kind of a surplus of their own. The plan is to move Carlos Correa to third base. Yeah. Right? Which is interesting. Which is interesting.

Starting point is 00:09:35 He's a pretty good shortstop to be accepting a move to third base. That's right. But Mihinti is over there, right? You got Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa, two Puerto Rican. So let's go. There you go. But that makes two players within the Mets organization expendable. Old friend Eduardo Escobar.

Starting point is 00:09:53 Yeah. As well as Beatty that the Diamondbacks were checking in on for a trade in regards to one of their young outfielder. Now, if you look at the Mets, they don't fucking meet anybody else. But they still could use another young prospect outfielder that's very talented like the Diamondbacks have. Yeah, it's interesting. I think Ken Rosenthal in his column about this whole thing today, I want to say that it was that piece. I believe he mentioned that, yes, Brett Beatty would now be expendable for them. And frankly, there's no reason to keep Brett Beatty in the organization now that you have both Lendor and Carlos Correa locked up into the 2030s.

Starting point is 00:10:31 They're going to be set on the left side of the infield for a while. I don't think that sets up a move for the Diamondbacks, if I'm being honest. From what Rosenthal said, it sounds like the Mets would be targeting pitching more than they would be targeting an outfielder. They already brought back Brandon Nimmo. That's the move that they made when the Diamondbacks asked for Brett Beatty in exchange for Alec Thomas when those two sides were discussing that deal. So I think the Mets are kind of already set in the outfield. And if they're going to move a big prospect like Brett Bady, they're probably not going to do it to get like a fourth outfielder, which is what, you know, Jake McCarthy or Alec Thomas or one of those guys would be for them.

Starting point is 00:11:07 Yeah. There's one factor that's the most important here. And it doesn't involve the Diamondbacks, the Mets, or the Giants. It involves this man. And the fact that now because this deal happened, this man needs to eat an entire Toyota RAV-4. Based on a tweet he sent out on December, let's see, December 11th, he said, I'll eat a Toyota Rav-4 on a live stream if the Mets signed Korea. Well, guess what, pal?

Starting point is 00:11:34 We just subscribed to your channel. So get on that. I would eat a cake shaped like a Rav4. That's the right. I would know if I had painted myself into this corner. What about you? I feel slightly attacked by this tweet just as the owner of a Rav4. You don't want to see any Rav4 violence.

Starting point is 00:11:51 Yeah. No. No Ravours can be harmed in the making of any videos. I will not, I will not accept that. At least not my Rav 4. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's very protective of his Rav 4.

Starting point is 00:12:01 I'm very, very protective of the sick Ravore. Yes. Well, in Arizona Diamond Backs news that another name is now off the board. I know you may have heard me say that before, but Brandon Drury agrees to a deal with the Los Angeles Angels. One less player that the Diamondbacks really have to acquire on the free agent market, at least, for that third base hole that they have, if you will.

Starting point is 00:12:23 So now it's Evan Lungoria bust. So that's where we're at, right? I don't, yeah, like on paper, yes, right? I mean, he's the last guy who's there that the Diamondbacks have been linked to. So I definitely understand that perspective. I don't know if Evan Longoria necessarily moves the needle that much for the diamondbacks. I wouldn't be, I think, like, if you're a fan, I don't think you should be mad at an addition of Evan Longoria, depending on the price. Like, it gives the debacks some depth, especially at DH.

Starting point is 00:12:52 There's still some at bats at DH that are not necessarily accounted for. It'd be good to have a right-handed hitter to take those at-bats. But is Evan Longoria, like, significantly better than Emmanuel Rivera? and Josh Rojas, like, as a platoon at third base. Yes. Probably not. I think he is then. I still think we hold Emmanuel Rivera in very high regard.

Starting point is 00:13:15 That's fair. For the first month that he was a member of this team. It was sort of like a month or a month and a half of very, very good hitting and then he kind of dropped off. So, yeah, I think I feel, I think Evan Longoria, at least on paper, maybe moves the needle, even a little bit more than Brandon Jury, who you just mentioned there, who signed with the Angels. But yeah, you're not talking about a huge, a huge addition there. But yeah, I mean, I think it'd be fine. Like if the Diamondbacks can still get Evan Longoria, I do think it would help them a little bit and could be worth doing depending on the price.

Starting point is 00:13:48 And I don't think he's at the worst point in his career. To be honest, he's a career 265 hitter. And last season he hit 244. He still was, I mean, a contributor to a bad Giants team. So I'm not going to say like he was the end-all be-all. but I don't really think he was the reason why they were bad. I still think he has been a good addition to this team. And more than anything,

Starting point is 00:14:09 he's been consistent. You know what I mean? Like the guy has played consistently. I mean, his playing time got cut, obviously due to, you know, his declining skills.

Starting point is 00:14:19 Well, and he was hurt kind of a lot last year. I think he would have played nearly a full season if he could have. But he hasn't played a true full, I mean, I guess 2020, he played 53 out of the 60 games. Maybe you count that a full season.

Starting point is 00:14:32 But he hasn't played a full season. played close to a full 162 since 2017. Yeah, since it was with the Tampa Bayer. Right, right. But you're saying you want Evan Longoria? Is it Evan Longoria or bust for Diamondbacks fans, Derek? Is that what you're saying? No, I don't think so because I still think that, like you said, there's moves to be made.

Starting point is 00:14:50 There's, you know, it just, there's not a lot in their system, you know, when it comes to third base. No. It would almost require someone. Not in terms of right-handed offense. There's really nothing there. And it would require someone to change position and, you know, within. within the organization. They also just don't have a future there.

Starting point is 00:15:06 It's not like with Jordan Loeplow or Jordan Lawler. I'll never say Jordan. I'll never have to make that confusion ever again. Jordan Lawler, you know, Jordan Looplo is a brave now, Derek. He's gone. He's out of our lives. Lawler coming up, though. You know, I mean, that's one of the things that we have to be very careful about

Starting point is 00:15:21 when we talk about acquiring a shortstop. But let's be honest, the Diamondbacks could use a shortstop right now. They could use a guy. Nick Ahmed's going to be back and we'll see how he plays after coming back from three. but I'm saying for right now, I don't think they're set in the infield.

Starting point is 00:15:36 Do you think that they're thinking that maybe Lawler's switching to third base full time, and that's why they haven't made a move toward third base? Probably not. I think it's possible, like from what I've seen of Lawler playing defense, I haven't necessarily been enormously impressed, but he's still just so young and raw at that position that it's probably too early to make that judgment. It's probably something in the back of their minds,

Starting point is 00:16:01 though. Like I don't, the debacks probably aren't looking at Jordan Lawler as like, yes, he is a hundred percent going to be, you know, a lock in shortstop for his entire career or anything. I don't think we're quite at that point yet. But you're probably also not at the point of like, yes, we need to, you know, we need to find a shortstop because Jordan Lawler can't, can't do that either. Yeah. All right. Well, if you haven't done so already, go over to our website, go phtnx.com. Check out just these wonderful articles, most of which are unlocked. But the ones that are locked, you can get. access to by becoming a D-Backs diehard. That's right, not PHNX diehard, we're D-Backs die-Hards over here, but it'll give you all sorts of wonderful things. Not only will you get a free hat or shirt from the PHNX Locker.com every single year you're a member. You also get 20% off, access to our members-only Discord and so much more. Most importantly, you get discounts. We're talking about discounts across the board. We're going to have discounts available for our partners, discounts available at the PHNX Locker.com, and discounts on events like our upcoming P HNX tea party on January 13th out at Dobson Ranch Golf Course.

Starting point is 00:17:04 We are partnering together with our friends at four peaks, and we are going to bring you guys an incredible time. Of course, PHNX diehards get $36 per person rate versus the $45 per person normal rate that we have for anybody can join us, but diehards get that discount. Same thing with foursums. You get a discount there. The entry fee will include unlimited range balls, assent of rental clubs, one free hour of range time and golf balls at Dobson's.

Starting point is 00:17:28 and ranch to be used at a later time so you can come back and check out their wonderful driving range. I've talked about it a bunch. It's incredible. I had a blast out there playing all of the little mini games they have. They have an incredible ball tracking system that lets you still hit on an open range, but has all of your balls tracked. If you, if you shank one like I did, I told you guys this, they'll tell you an attendant is on the way to check on you. That's very funny to me. I don't know what they're checking on. Do they want to check on me to see if I'm bad, Or do they want to make sure I'm okay that I didn't have like a heart attack while hitting the ball or something? I don't know.

Starting point is 00:17:59 But so much fun to be had. Jesse's going to beat you in ping pong. I'm talking that way up. So when he doesn't, he can feel really bad about himself. Lindsay's going to be hoarding all of the hot chocolate and all the heaters so you can find those gathered around her. Most importantly, we're going to be up in a great time with the PHNX Suns crew watching the Suns versus Timberwolves on jumbo screens out there. We're going to have a basketball, what is it, a shot of glory out there? I don't even know.

Starting point is 00:18:24 We have so much stuff going on. Most importantly, drop the kiddos off at a free kids clinic provided for all kids 10 and under. I'm going to lie about my child's age and tell them she's 10 and under so she can get in. Maybe I shouldn't be telling you guys that or anyone at the golf course. But make sure to join us. Of course, it's our inaugural PHNXT party presented by our friends at Four Peaks and Dobson Ranch golf course. We're going to rent out the entire driving range coming out with us, the PHNX Suns crew, fellow diehards, big drive energy, and more for a night of golf food, drinks, contests, prizes, and more. Our PHNX Sun's crew, of course, like I said, will be hosting that watch party,

Starting point is 00:18:57 and Four Peaks will be out there providing beer samples and swag. So check the link in the description to reserve your spot right now. And for our diehards, check Discord for your special link where you'll save 70% on this awesome event. And again, if you can't join us out there, make sure to grab some Four Peaks near you, wherever you get your local beard. Join us remotely. Get it for watching this show. And yes, hey, an attendant is checking on you.

Starting point is 00:19:19 They're a nice way of saying, hey, dipshit hit towards the middle. Yes, thank you, Brett. I appreciate you saying that. So must be 21 years or older to enjoy four peaks and enjoy responsibly. Jesse, it's report card time. It is. We've been reviewing the Arizona Diamondbacks individual season performances from 2022. And this time we are taking on the short king himself, the man with all the tools, the one and only Dalton Varshow.

Starting point is 00:19:42 So I'm going to let you have the floor first as far as your report card goes. So as far as this is the all the tools guy. This is the all the tools guy. You guys know about Dalton Varshow. Correct. And yes, as fittingly, under the tools category, rather than giving a letter grade, it's just all. Tools, all the sense in the world.

Starting point is 00:20:05 As far as the actual letter grades go, hit. I have a C minus for Dalton Vars show. Wow. And I know why that is. It is relatively low. You're basing that on his average exit be low, aren't you? That's sort of part of it. That's sort of part of it.

Starting point is 00:20:22 as well-back. And yes, wow, look at you, Derek, with all these, all these fancy numbers. Dalton Varshot's expected batting average, which is another like stat-cast stat, is 214 from this, from this last year. It's in the seventh percentile. It is not, not particularly great. So basically what, yeah, what you're saying about like his average exit v. low, that was in the 25th percentile. The numbers suggest that Dalton Varsho hit 235. And that was probably on the higher end of what he might have deserved to come away with at the end of the year.

Starting point is 00:20:57 I do think that going into next year, the shift will certainly help him. The fact that the shift is going to be restricted. Dalton Farsho led the league in poll rate last year out of hitters who had like 450 or more played appearances. He pulls the ball a ton. He also has a lot of fly ball. So we'll see not all of those pulled balls are necessarily going to turn into hits because a lot of them are in the air. We'll see how that turns out. But moving on to the other categories, I have a B.

Starting point is 00:21:22 plus in the power department. 27 home runs, pretty solid for Dalton Varshow. Maybe there's a little bit more room for him to add there. But in terms of the power numbers, it was a really solid season for him. He ran the bases. Well, I'm giving him a B plus there. He was 16 for 22 in stolen bases, which is pretty good for a guy who catches and, you know, plays the outfield and does all the things that he does in other areas of the game.

Starting point is 00:21:48 And then, of course, the fielding can't go anything other than an A plus. I've written about why Dalton Varshow should have won a gold glove award this year, either in Wrightfield or the new utility category that they've introduced. I think he was snubbed in that regard. And he arguably is the best, or at least was the best defender in the outfield and all of baseball in 2020. So I can't go anything other than an A plus in the fielding department for Dalton Varshow. His outfielder jump is in the 97th percentile. And his outs above average is in the 99th percentile.

Starting point is 00:22:21 The man is just a. a defensive beast. And let's remember that this is a guy that came up as a catcher. Like he had very little focus in the minor leagues on being an outfielder. Very true. And you factor in Chase Field's ridiculous dimensions and that stupid-ass porch. And yeah, you have a guy that adapted very quickly to not only centerfield where he was fantastic, but right field where he ended up living the rest of his season out.

Starting point is 00:22:49 So I much like a teacher that favors a student, my grades are much higher on this. Let's take a look, Jacob, of what I got over here. Here we go. Yes, tools. I just gave him an A plus on tools because like you said, he has all the tools. And mine were a little bit more favorable here. I agree with you on the hitting, though I probably could have given him a little bit lower on the hitting. But I just thought that to be honest, the fact that his barrel percentage is in the 70th percentile,

Starting point is 00:23:19 He kept his strikeouts fairly low compared to the league. And I mean, of course, it was just the unexpected, you know, offensive numbers that he put up. I know defensively, he was good. But I just felt like I think it's probably a player that the bar was set a bit low on, you know, when he struggled. And he first came up, you know, he had a good second half of his season the prior year. But that kind of seemed a little fluky, like what we might see out of, you know, or what we might feel. feel like we've seen out of, like, let's say, Jake McCarthy this year. I just thought he continued to be excellent at the plate.

Starting point is 00:23:55 And honestly, the Diamondback's second most potent offensive threat, obviously power there represents that as well. I thought he was, like Jesse said, the speed on the base paths was great. More importantly, his is the jump speed and his ability to play defense also factored in there as well. Sure. And then, yeah, fielding, I would give him seven pluses behind that A because he deserves. every single one of them. Someone said in the comments, Brett Johnson said that the man has single-handedly put Ace out of business, Ace Hardware, for those of you that are younger and might not remember that

Starting point is 00:24:30 Ace Hardware even existed. That's the reference he's making there. I just think that all of these things, this is the first report card for me without a CRD. Yeah, yeah, look at that. Like I said, I favored Dalton Bar Show. But sadly, we had to do this quickly because we didn't know how much long. hunger we would have to actually grade Dalton Varsho as a member of this team, which is sad to say. I think in the end, though, we'll probably see none of the outfielders moved and we'll see this

Starting point is 00:24:59 team proceed with a roster very similar to what they had last year. Yeah, it's fair. It seems, I mean, it seems like there's probably no movement between now and like the holidays, probably looking in January. Maybe things pick up again. We have 65 days until spring training. That's, yeah. I mean, the clock is ticking.

Starting point is 00:25:18 time is running a little bit short here. But yeah, I mean, one phone call can change everything when it comes to trade negotiations. So you never really know. And it's not like they haven't been connected. We've heard a lot of people checking in with the diamondbacks. We've heard them checking in with other people. So yeah, definitely.

Starting point is 00:25:35 And yes, Derek with Dalton Varshow bias confirmed. Absolutely. And I'll never not have Dalton Varshot biased. Do you think we go after Nathan Avaldi at all? That's, I don't know what you think. Yeah, I'm actually. So later today I'll have a piece out on free agent targets who are still out there. Believe it or not, there's still a few.

Starting point is 00:25:54 It's not just Evan Longoria. There's a few others that I'll draw your attention to as well. I actually, right before we started the show, I'm like mentally debating, like should I put Nate Evaldi on this list or is he just too unrealistic for the Diamondbacks? My guess is he is probably a little bit unrealistic for the Diamondbacks when all is said and done. He's your best starter that's left and a lot of teams still need starting pitching. And so I think he's going to get, you know, probably four years, you know, maybe somewhat similar to what Taiwan Walker and James and Tyone got maybe a little bit less than that.

Starting point is 00:26:25 I don't know if the debacks are in a spot right now where they want to make that kind of an investment on a starting pitcher. I think they're more, they're more looking for, you know, like a Wade Miley, maybe a Rich Hill, you know, the veterans who are steady. Those are the guys that I think they're most likely to be looking at moving forward. I wouldn't rule it out. It's possible based on how much money I think they have to spend the rest of the offseason. Avaldi would pretty much take all of that by himself. But maybe the debacks stretch the budget a little bit more than we're expecting. Certainly anything is possible. Well, our fearless leader, Saul Bookman, tweeted out this morning about the Diamondbacks payroll for 2021 being just over $85 million. And then linking that to Jeff Passon's tweet about the amount of money the Mets have spent in free. agency alone. I mean, it's absurd.

Starting point is 00:27:17 $806.1 million committed to the free agents that they either brought back or signed this offseason. So, as Saul said, baseball inequity sucks. It really, really does. But we far too often put the blame on MLB and baseball itself, when in reality, you can spend whatever you want, right? Yeah, well, Steve Cohen has made that abundantly clear. Oh my God.

Starting point is 00:27:45 Steve Cohen, the price tag on this Mets roster, once you factor in just the raw cost of it, along with the luxury tax bill that they're facing, it's nearly half a billion dollars. For just the 2023 New York Mets roster, they're looking at about $480 million at this point. And then you have, yeah, a team like the Diamondbacks that currently is, you know, 105, maybe after bringing in Scott McGuff, 105, 108, something in that range. there's a pretty big difference between a team that is willing to spend 480 million versus a team that's willing to spend, you know, in the low 100s in payroll. And that's just, I think the addition of Steve Cohen into, you know, into the baseball sphere

Starting point is 00:28:30 has caused a lot of people to be concerned about like, where are we going with this? Yeah, when is it going to stop? When it's, when it's too much, too much, right? Right. And Ken Kendrick was one of the four owners who voted against. Steve Cohen being brought in as an MLB owner, and it was for this reason. And we know why now.

Starting point is 00:28:49 We know why. Here's the thing, though, is the Mets are in a terrible division as far as competing, just as bad as the Diamondbacks are in, right? You mean, like, terrible division as in like it's very, very good? I'm sorry, it's a terrible situation in our division because they're in a fantastic division. Don't forget so many good teams. Don't forget, though, that you're not playing your division as much. No, I know that.

Starting point is 00:29:11 but it's still a matter of winning the division and the route to the playoffs, right? But yes, the schedule for next year, it's much better as far as not playing your division and not getting stuck, getting beat up on by overpowered teams that, you know, you have to beat them not only in games, but beat them overall in the season in order to try to make the playoffs, right? I think the Mets are just tired, tired of losing. They want to be the ones. They want to be the ones that spend all the money in New York. They want to be the ones that that buy all the players and create this all-star roster.

Starting point is 00:29:48 The only problem is, is how many times historically has that really worked? Not much. I mean, there's plenty of times where you look back on rosters like a Florida Marlins roster here or there or certain teams where, like, knowing how good the players ended up being, they were all-star caliber rosters. But they were at the time, they were homegrown and maybe added in little pieces not doing it the way that the Mets are doing it. Who knows if this equates to the Mets winning

Starting point is 00:30:15 the World Series. Yeah, it's a fascinating question. The Dodgers would have five World Series by now for the last 10 years if it was about who spent the most money. That's true. That's true. And I don't necessarily look at this Mets roster and say this is by far the best roster in the National League. I don't think they're at that point. A lot of the money they've spent

Starting point is 00:30:32 is just to either bring back guys that they already had in Brandon Nimo and Edwin Diaz or replace the guy that they lost in Justin Verland instead of Jacob de Grom, right? Carlos Correa is the one guy they brought in where it's like, okay, this is actually a substantial upgrade. And he's not even going to play his position.

Starting point is 00:30:50 Right, and he's going to play third, which he'll probably be a fantastic third baseman. I don't know if that necessarily drags down his value a ton. But yeah, it's not like this Mets team is, you know, way, way better than it was last year. But, I mean, it's a pretty darn good team. It's a pretty darn good team. If you're watching us right now on the PHN Sports YouTube channel,

Starting point is 00:31:10 only thank you guys for being here. Of course, if you haven't done so already, please subscribe to the channel, sign up for notifications. That way you don't miss when any of our shows go live. Leave us a thumbs up for my self-esteem. And if you're listening to us on your favorite audio podcasting app, please subscribe to us there if you haven't done so already. And leave us a review. We appreciate you for doing so. The Mets are definitely building something. But you know what? You don't have to build anything if you get your furniture through morefurniture.com. Forget IKEA and all of their stuff you have to put together yourself. Go get yourself furniture that's already put together wonderfully by our friends at Moore Furniture.

Starting point is 00:31:42 And right now they have their holiday clearance event, which is happening down at More Furniture. And you can save up to 50% off. Jesse, sometimes when I go to More Furnitures like Showroom, they decorate it for the holidays. Yeah. I get ideas on how to decorate. So one of the ideas that they did was they had like some pictures that were like wrapped like gifts, you know, like a picture frame. Okay.

Starting point is 00:32:05 Just being itself, they wrapped it like a gift. I did that at my house and my daughter asked me why I was so extra. Wait, so you're wrapping, like you're taking pictures off the wall and you're wrapping it. Put a bow on it. It looks like a gift's up on your wall. But then you can't see the picture anymore.

Starting point is 00:32:22 Jesse, it's just for a month, for Pete's sake. Yeah, but like... Jesse hasn't even shopped yet. It's okay. Jesse doesn't have anything on his walls that I didn't give them as a present. So let's be honest here. Isn't Christmas about like, like you decorate the things that you have?

Starting point is 00:32:36 You enhance the appearance of the things you have. You don't cover up the things you have with Christmas. I'll fucking wrap that little Lomax picture as a fucking president. Please do. I am going to do. I'm going to do that. That one I think I'd be okay.

Starting point is 00:32:48 I think I'd be okay with that. Before we get out of here, I tweeted about this earlier this week, but I wanted to give a quick shout out and thank you to our friends in the country of Brazil. For one beautiful day in November, Jesse, we were the number one baseball podcast. in Brazil and I just want to thank you all so much for listening. I'm sure it's just one guy. We're really taking a victory laugh. I am.

Starting point is 00:33:15 I'm taking a victory lap on this one day that we were number one. I mean, can't take that away from us. We actually don't track our metrics in the U.S. We're only concerned about our performance in Brazil. Great Britain and Canada. Yeah, select countries in Africa. And yeah, I think New Zealand also, I like to keep a close eye on how we're doing there.

Starting point is 00:33:34 But the U.S. is, you know, we don't really. That's not really a factor To see HGO Cubs though Did you see this? No what they tweeted out the other day that they were the number three Podcast for baseball in America Whatever How did they do in Brazil though?

Starting point is 00:33:48 Yeah They weren't number one Were they? Damn it! Damn it! I said they weren't number one Oh they weren't You were?

Starting point is 00:33:55 Yeah that's right I want to To any Brazilians listening I want to try Feijoda I think that's how it's called It's this delicious looking stew Okay now we're now we're trying

Starting point is 00:34:06 Brazilian stew. Hey, I'm trying to not only get us back to number one, but keep us there. That's what I'm trying to do here, Jesse. Another quick update that we had on the cat from National Lampoon's Christmas vacation. We have an update, huh? Did the cat recover? The cat's okay. That's movie magic right there, folks.

Starting point is 00:34:27 A lot of people wanted to know the specifics about my wife's connection. Apparently, my wife's aunt Carla, who is no longer with us, was the action. caregiver for this cat. It was her cat. The cat's name in real life was shithead or S.H. For short. But yes, this is a very true situation. My wife's aunt was an artist who lived in L.A.

Starting point is 00:34:54 and she actually did a lot of artwork that they would buy and hang up in movies in the background just to have like art on the walls. And then eventually she started selling it to like hotel chains and stuff like that. But yeah, there's that story so that. so that everybody can rest easy. Rest much easier than Jesse and I did last night with the Carlos Correa information. So now I have to ask, like they didn't actually electrocute the cat. Jesse, no.

Starting point is 00:35:19 Jesse, no, you're not asking me that. I shouldn't even have to answer that. Oh, my God. Is the cat still alive? Oh, my God. No, the cat's not alive. That movie was filmed 30 years ago, Jesse. It would be some sort of record if that guy was still alive.

Starting point is 00:35:34 My God. I just figured it was worth asking. What a legendary cat that was in National Landfood's Christmas vacation. It was still alive at like age 40. What an incredible story. Not at all. But anyway, if your kids have wonderful questions for you the way Jesse does for me, here's what you do with them during their winter break.

Starting point is 00:35:56 You take them to Octane Raceway, Mavericks. You go experience the United States only full-time indoor, outdoor, track and also the 22 bowling lanes, 85 arcade games, and the state of the art, laser tag arena over at Mavericks. And of course, we have a blast going out there ourselves. You can see the video where Jesse and I are like killing zombies and I'm really into it, so check that out. They have a 5,000 square foot restaurant, bar featuring a chef curated menu.

Starting point is 00:36:25 The burgers are incredible, craft beers, custom cocktails, all of that. Every Wednesday, since today is, is today Wednesday? Today, I believe, is Wednesday. Oh, my God. It's winning Wednesday. It's winning Wednesday for us because Carlos Correa is out of the NL West, and it's winning Wednesday over at Mavericks where you can get half-price arcade games all day long. What better place to take the kiddos out for some fun during their winter break.

Starting point is 00:36:46 So make sure to check out our friends at Mavericks and Octane Raceway. And it's right there in the shadow of Salt River Fields. So 65 days from now, you know, where we're going to be at. You can be there too watching spring training baseball. But until that's like the dream of a day. It really is. Like spend half the day at Mavericks. and then...

Starting point is 00:37:04 Bowling and playing our game. And then go hit up a spring training game in the afternoon. That night, you go to a talking stick. There you go. There you go. Of course, in the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I'm at Kapp underscore Kman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman.

Starting point is 00:37:17 Our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs, but of course all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We thank you guys again for joining us, not only on the live show, but in Discord, in the chat, and wherever you guys join us, Twitter, everywhere. We're all going to celebrate not having to deal

Starting point is 00:37:33 with Correa for 13 years in the NOS. Thank God. But anyway, we thank you guys again. On behalf of Faj, Jesse, and myself, we always appreciate your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you're Steve Cohen.

PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - The UBER RICH New York Mets sign Carlos Correa after medical issues arose with the Giants

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