PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - TPSP Sho-No: Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker back again, Shohei Ohtani is coming to the NL West

Episode Date: December 15, 2023

For the first time this season the Phoenix Suns finally had their Big 3 all together. Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker made their debut as a unit and despite the hype, the Suns still lost to the Brooklyn Nets. What did we learn about the Big 3 and when can we expect to see the Suns return to their winning ways? Two familiar faces were also back in the Valley last night. The Twins, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, made their return after being traded to Brooklyn last season. Unfortunately for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Shohei Ohtani is coming to the NL West and has signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a ridiculous amount of money. How can the Snakes manage this latest move?Join Makayla Perkins for THE Phoenix Sports Podcast!0:00 Intro1:00 Office Christmas party5:45 Draymond suspension21:10 Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson return to the Valley33:45 Big 3 debut58:00 Ohtani signs with DodgersAn ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsPHNX Events: Get your tickets to Suns Takeovers, Coyotes & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/phnx-560...Desert Financial Credit Union: Open a free checking account online with Desert Financial Credit Union and get $200 in bonuses https://www.desertfinancial.com/200Hero Bread: Get 10% off your first order of Hero Bread at https://www.hero.co/ by using code PHNXEmpire: Schedule 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 https://empiretoday.com/phnx for details.Gila River Resorts & Casinos: 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...Arizona’s Family Sports: Watch Suns games on Arizona’s Family Sports! Visit https://www.azfamily.com/ and click “SUNS GAMES” for listing information for your area.Fubo: WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS: https://www.fubotv.com/phnxOGeez!: 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.Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.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.

Happy Friday. I can't yell because my head hurts because I'm so hungover. Welcome into the UVX Sports podcast. It is Flavoring Friday. We'd like to give a shout out to OGs brands, the official sponsor of Flavoring Fridays. OGs is not your average canvas-infused gummy. They absolutely knock it out of the park when it comes to flavor.

And the effects of their gummies are a total slam dunk too. Head on over to OGsBrands.com to see their full lineup. and find out where you can purchase. Oh, you guys, I'm struggling. I am fully, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm the manifestation of a hangover. Let's go. I hate you, Max.

I'm going to make Max rue the day that he was fucking born. Oh, you guys, I'm struggling so hard today. Last night was our staff Christmas party, holiday party, I should say, not Christmas party. It was a holiday party. wasn't menorah there. Max lit it. It was the last day of Hanukkah yesterday. Um, and if you don't know anything about the PHNX, we like to have a good time when we're together. And last night, it was a great time. Um, as you can probably tell by this group photo, we had a blast. I drank way too much

wine. I'm pretty, guys, I'm not even kidding. I'm pretty sure I had a whole bottle and a half to myself. The evidence is clear in this picture. My face says, I am drunk, and the wine in my hand also says, I am drunk. Yeah, that was quite a night. I drank so much wine. Damon can attest to this. At one point, Tim, our intern was there, and I was like, Tim, just bring the bottle over. It was a mess and a half. Did you have fun, Damon? Yeah, it was a great time. How are you? could you not have fun right drinking it was it was just good vibes partaking in the o gs there were many bags of ojs there was ogs everywhere count downs winks yes four peaks everything was flowing it was such a good time tottri and i took a shot together at one point i think you were there too right eric was there

and i just had like a straight like shot of vodka and everyone was looking at me like i was a psychopath and i was like what i went to a rizzo state your girl can drink i might be 26 almost 27 um but i can i can hang with the best of them it was super fun i'm so sorry i am lagging today so this podcast is going to be off the rails plus we're talking about two of my most heated opinionated topics which include draymond green and the fucking los angeles dodgers so today is going to be i'm going to be on one today so i hope you all are ready for this um hungover mac is an off the rails mac just like i think charles said it if you scream roll up in the comments.

Yeah, Matt Cung Over. This is going to be off the rails. Good Lord, help us all. Everybody put your seatbelts on, strap in. It's going to be a ride. Groundhog Mama's literally in the car, so she literally has her seatbelt on. This is going to be a good one. But before we get into all of that, if you haven't signed up to be Die Hard yet,

what are you doing? Just like that picture that you just saw, we are all a family, and you can be a part of that family, too, by signing up to be a P. P-HNX diehard. Head on over to go PHNX.com right now and sign up. There's tons of great benefits to being a die-hard. Include access to our die-hard's only Discord. A free shirt when you sign up plus 20% off merch and events at all times.

We have a Sun's takeover coming up in January, which is exactly one month away. So sign up to be a die-hard and then you'll get a discount on those takeover tickets. There is really no reason why you shouldn't be a die-hard at this point. So make sure you sign up. Also want to thank our friends at Burrito Express. breasts. They have the best burritos in the Valley, hands down. I honestly, like a burrito right now, sounds so good to my hungover tummy. Oh my God. The perfect hangover. They are the perfect hangover remedy. Their burritos are to die for, especially when you accompany them with five and a half salsa,

which is what I need to properly eat a burrito express burrito because their salsa is also slap. They are a huge supporter of ASU athletics, which you always love to see. And they have multiple locations throughout the valley so no matter where you are in the valley there is a brito express probably pretty close by and if you are able to please go get a burrito on my behalf right now and eat one so that maybe i will feel less hungover on behalf of you consuming a burrito i really need it um you can grab a burrito and follow burrito express on twitter at burrito e xp all right let's get into it i have a lot of thoughts to share with all of you and my filter has been removed because I just don't care about anything at this point.

Obviously, we all know we saw the big three finally play basketball together on Wednesday. But before we get into that, we have got to talk about what happened during the Suns Warriors game earlier this week. If you missed it or have been living under a rock, Draymond Green was tossed in the third quarter on Tuesday's loss to the Suns. after the officials assessed him with a flagrant two foul considering the fact that he literally swung and smacked Nurkich in the face during an inbound's play. You can see here, I didn't even have to highlight it

in a red circle. Nurkich was just doing what Nurkich does and was defending the play of the inbound and he was behind Dremont and like Dremont just does what Dremont does and he got mad. about it and he turned around wound up and literally smacked Nirkich square in the face. It is his third ejection of the season so far.

And I just am, I mean, I'm not surprised, right? Like, this is what Dreyvon Green does. Like, Draymond Green is probably the dirtiest player in the NBA hands down. We're going to go through his rap sheet of offenses in a little bit. But I mean, just like my jaw was, I mean, even though. it's not surprising my jaw was still on the floor because that obviously was just so out of pocket like there is no reason for you to literally like wind up and swing and hit somebody else in the face during a basketball game like that is bizarre to me i have never felt that much a rage inside

myself and there's that's like the only thing that i can explain is what happened is he was just a rageful hateful human being and has to like release the rage every now and then and god help whoever he is playing when he decides to let his rage out because it obviously manifests in super violent ways. And it's just honestly concerning. This is what Nurkich had to say about that incident after the game. I don't know, man. I was behind the play. I don't think what's going on with him. I don't know. Personally, I feel like their brother needs to help. I'm glad he's not trying to choke me. But at the same time, and nothing to do with basketball, man. I'm just out there trying to play basketball you know they're swinging i think we saw that often but um hope he you know

whatever he got in his life will get better yeah man i mean first of all super classy response for nerkitch i don't know if i would have said what nergitch said after an incident like that i would have been on the podium like yo fuck that guy he is insane um so shout out to nergitch for handling that with a lot of class i mean he said it best and he said quote that brother needs help like he needs help Nerkich was just defending and playing basketball what he was supposed to be doing and Dremont just took offense to that

a couple days later I think yesterday actually we found out the league had decided to permanently suspend and will suspend indefinitely so Dremont has been suspended indefinitely in the press release it was really funny the the league said that this outcome

takes into account Green's repeated history of unsportsman like acts like yeah NBA he has a lot of them and we're about to go through all of them. But it's just crazy that this is, this is what it took for him to be suspended indefinitely because in my opinion, he should have been suspended indefinitely after he sucker punched his teammate in the face during practice. Shout out Jordan Boole. I hope you're okay. But I'm just like, I'm glad that this was a decision that that was the outcome. Like there needed, something needs to be done. Like he could not get away

with yet again a super violent outburst. And, considering this was his third suspension of the season so far or sorry third ejection of the season like things have continually not gotten better for draymond um obviously his suspension is going to begin immediately it came out that he has going to have to meet certain requirements that the league and the team sets for him to be returned to play um we don't obviously know for sure what those are because they involve a lot of health but like it's rumored to be that he needs to go to counseling and start anger management therapy, which I cannot recommend enough for him. He definitely needs to go seek some help, some anger management therapy. Obviously, you know, I don't want to comment too much

on his mental health or like the situations that might be underlying that kind of play into all of these like outbursts. Obviously, if someone's struggling with their mental health, they need to get help and they should get help. I don't necessarily think it's an excuse for being violent against other people. Like if you know you're struggling, you should probably take some preventative actions to prevent you from violently assaulting other human beings. Um, but I do want to make sure that I'm being sensitive about the fact that like, you know, I obviously don't know Dremont personally. I don't know necessarily everything that happens behind the scenes in his life. But if it is something that has to do with his mental health, like I really do, um, I'm excited that he's going to be able to get help and

find some sort of healthy coping mechanism. His um's like outlets because clearly something is not going right for draymond like there is something either in his personal life or just like something is not well like he is an unwell human being because no rational human being does what draymond does and he has repeated history of unsportsman like acts which is what they said in a press release and he he's out of control like draymond green is out of control when the league talks about his history of unsportsman like conducts they're referring to multiple different instances of not just like hiccups or like, you know, one active like aggression. It was like major, major, major things. This man is just a rap sheet of cheap shots, flagrant fouls. Like the list goes on and on. He is the person that punched his teammate in the face during practice, which honestly, effectively, like,

I think that was the downfall of poor Jordan Poole because then the warriors traded him to the wizards and he just kind of like faded off. and no one ever really heard anything from Jordan Poole ever again. He was suspended. It really has destroyed Jordan Poole's career in a way. Totally. I think it was a career-ending thing that happened.

And it's not like he did. Like, I mean, allegedly he was talking shit. And so, you know, talk shit, get hit. But not really not like that. He's like the fourth best player on a team that just won a championship. And it was just over right after that. Yeah. And there were reports that, you know, Steve Kerr encouraged Dremont and Jordan to like go to dinner and talk things out.

And Raymond was like, me. And then he released that. stupidly weirdly filmed and edited, looked like he was a hostage in a basement apology video where he basically just like turned the whole situation around and blamed Jordan for why he got sucker punched in the face. And again, I'm not saying that you should be like talking

down to your teammate or whatever, but like punching someone in the face is non-appropriate reaction to anything. I'm sorry, but that's just so not cool. He was suspended in 2022 for receiving 16 total technical in a season, which is the league max. Like, once you receive 16 technical, like, you're done. You're suspended for that. He was the person that kicked LeBron James and the nuts during the finals.

He was caught, like, just, like, getting all up in Katie's face in 2018, and him in their team huddle and was suspended for acts that were detriment to a team's culture. He stomped on Sabonis in the playoffs last year and was rejected and suspended. And after he stomped on Sabonis, he was like, eh. I don't know what you want me to do about it, which is crazy. He choked out Rudy Gobert this season, which is his second injection in four. He was ejected twice in the span of four games. And him choking out Rudy Gobert was his second ejection in a four game span.

Like, that is wild. And the craziest thing about all of this and this entire rap sheet of, like, violence is that he was unapologetic about all of it. He posted on his Instagram story after the Gobert thing saying, this is 12 years of him being in the league and he's never going to change. And if after 12 years you were expecting him to change, then you're the crazy one. Like, talk about gaslighting. Like, sorry for expecting you to not be violent against other players in the NBA.

My bad. He was celebrating after, like, he celebrated after he was stomping on Sabonis. I remember that he was like walking around and running around like, oh, what, you want to mess with me? He like hopped up on the bench and was like yelling up. the crowd like just bizarre bizarre bizarre acts and like I mentioned the weird apology video to jordan pool where he was like basically like you're the reason i punched you in the face sorry not sorry like it is all just so like that many violent acts is already bizarre but then you add

into the fact that he just does not care and he is not apologetic in any way shape or form and even his apology to nurkitch after the game was he didn't even want to talk to the media he was like i'm not coming out and then he was forced to come out and then when he came out and then when he came out and you made that apology to Nurkich. It was a half-assed like total not sincere apology. It's just I don't understand how you can be so violent in so many like obvious and insane ways and then not give a shit and just be like, that's who I am. Like that to me just does not register. Like I as soon as like if I accidentally step on someone's toe, I'm like, oh my God, I'm so sorry. I did not mean to step on your toe. Like I just I can't. It doesn't

register in my head. So he needs, like, obviously he needs help. Like at the end of the day, like nothing that he has done is acceptable in any way, shape, or form. I don't care what happened before during or after. There's no way to justify what Jemond Green does. He is the dirtiest player in the NBA. It goes above and beyond just there's no excuse for it.

And so I'm glad that the league suspended him indefinitely. I think that was absolutely the right call to make. I wouldn't be sad if he never. played basketball again. I don't know if that's too harsh, but I mean, the only shots that Traymond Green can make are cheap ones. Like, sometimes he comes up in these clutch moments and has a great game every now and then. But I think up into the point where he hit Nirkich, he only had two points. Like, it's not even like he's a superstar basketball player anymore. So I wouldn't be sad if I never saw Draymond Green, Draymond Green play another game of basketball, to be honest with you. And I don't

know if that's too harsh or not, but he needs help. And I'm glad that the league noticed that. I wish they would have noticed it when he sucker punch short and pool in the face. But it took how many more ejections and suspensions for them to get to this point. So I'm just glad that hopefully he can get the help that he needs and he will follow through with the conditions that the team in the league sets for him in terms of seeking anger management and therapy. Because if I've seen anybody that is a perfect case for anger management and therapy, his name is Draymond green so I just hope he gets the hope that he needs because my god holy cow he is off

the rails and I hope he needs I hope he gets the help that he needs because it's it's to the point where it's bad um would you be upset if he never played basketball again Damon I've I'm in a weird place of Draymond because like I've always I'm I'm such a contrarian that I've always liked people that everyone hates no but this is just this is another degree yeah it's indefensible. So it's just like I don't I don't really like hate him but it's just it's yeah I mean he obviously needs to get some help you can't be putting people in you know colds show UFC choke holds in the middle of NBA basketball games and then sucker punching your teammate do it's stomping on somebody like it's yeah it's out of hand like like we're not playing gTA like this is like a real

life situation it's so crazy um Jan Paul Edward Dizioz in the comments saying warriors enabled him all these years. Yeah, I mean, I think there was a lot of lack of accountability that was displayed from, I think, both the league and the Warriors. Like, I don't think anybody really did a good job of holding him accountable. Like, after you sucker punch a teammate in the face, I'm sorry, but Steve Kerr, their resolution is not, hey, maybe you guys should go to dinner. What? I'm not going to dinner with someone who just sucker punched me in the face. Like, that is insane. So I just hope he gets the help he needs. And I, like I said, I wouldn't be upset if we never saw him again. But I digress. We have some big threes and some twins to talk about.

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The three PPSs I've done, it has been a struggle, I think, on every single one of them. Yeah, I can't say it. It's a tough word. I literally cannot figure out how to say that word. Before we talk about Otani and the Dodgers and Glass Now, we obviously have to talk about the fact that we finally, for the first time this season,

saw Devin Booker, Bradley Beale, and Kevin Durant play a regular season game together. Oh my God. Relief. Relief and joy is all I feel. We'll talk about that in a second. But first, obviously there was another huge factor to that game against the Nets because the twins were back in town. It was obviously the first time that Mikhail Bridges and Cam Johnson returned to the Valley to play some basketball after being traded to the Nets. Before the game, they met with the media and they both were able to.

to kind of reflect on our time with Phoenix. And this is what Cam Johnson had to say. Yeah, these fans are great. These fans were amazing. And it's crazy. The development of the program, the development of the team culture and the development of how, you know,

the city kind of care for this team over my time here was just amazing to see. And I think a big part of that mutual love is the fact that we were able to sort of in a way grow something together, you know, where it had been a couple down years and we were able to just, you know, put a group together and turn it around a little bit. And that love is very mutual.

I love the fans here. And when I'm back in town, they, you know, treatment as if I never left. And that's something that you just can't take for granted because nobody can really take that away from you, you know. Yeah, nobody can take away the fact that the son's fans love Cam Johnson and Mikhail Bridges. And I love that he was able to say that and know that and know how much he's loved. and he feels that love because it's true. Like Sons fans literally love Michaela and Cam so much,

our twins forever. I also love how he was able to say that I think of a lot of the love that they were able to earn from the fans came from the fact that they were able to build a successful team together. And they, you know, wrote it out through some really, really tough years,

including winning less than 20 games in a season. And they got to the point where they made it to a finals together. And this team like they earned the love that they got like everyone that supports them supports them for a good reason and so it makes my heart happy to hear cam talk about that he can recognize that and he also feels that love because i don't know about you guys but i was a little torn up when they traded the twins that was a hard one that was a hard pill for me to swallow because um i'm rider die for the phoenix sons and i was a huge huge huge mcales specifically mcale but also cam obviously they

They're like one in the same, their package deal supporter. And so when the sons traded them, obviously I was stoked that Katie was coming here. But it was hard for me to give up on McAul and Cam because I had watched them, you know, grow and become such great basketball players. And they were seriously like everything you could want in a teammate and in someone that represented your city. So I'm so glad that Cam said that like he feels the love because I think we all want them to feel the love. So that always is great to hear. Mikhail also met with the media before the game, and this is what he had to say. Yeah, man, it was a great culture we had here.

I mean, it's fun, and you can't take it for granted. Like, you know, going to finals ain't easy, you know. So you kind of realize that, you know, it's tough to get back. And it just feels like it's just like a little bit more pressure to get there. But it's just not normal to have to be so close like that as a team, you know, especially in NBA. It's really special. And that's stuff I take it.

I take with me, you know, when I left, it's just like be able to have those moments and really embrace it. Oh, man, I don't know how I'm going to get through this segment without crying. I'm just kidding, I'm not that emotional. I'm also so dehydrated from the alcohol. I don't think a single tear could come out of my face because there's no liquid in my body at the moment. But like Mikhail said it best, like that team was so, so, so special. Like they, every time you saw them interact, whether it was like their high five thing that they did before game where they all had like a certain like handshake with each other they were like jamming out to

and be a young boy on the court every night like that team was just so unique and so special and I think that's why watching this son's team has been so hard for me because although we have some of the biggest names in basketball all on the same roster it just doesn't feel like a team yet and I'm hoping that at some point they're going to figure out that chemistry and they are going to be able to gel together. I think the two people that have the best chemistry on the team are two superstars, which is great. I forget who said it. I was watching an interview with one of the sons players, and he said the reason that he wanted to come to Phoenix was because he saw the relationship between KD and Devin Booker. And when you have two superstars like that on a team, that's really not

common. Like they don't embrace each other all the time because they obviously are at the top of their game and they're the best of the best. And so, you know, embracing each other isn't something they have to do. but that's something that KD and Devin Booker have done really, really well. So the fact that those do have chemistry is great, but I haven't seen or felt that team aspect with the Sons since Cam and Mikhail left. And again, like I said, it's awesome that we have, you know, Bradley Beale and all of these like great players on a roster together, but they haven't been a team yet.

And so I haven't felt that like emotional connection to them that a lot of fans feel with their teams is just because it's a it just feels different. And I don't know if that's weird or crazy, but I just, I don't feel like this is a team that's emotionally I can get behind yet. I think you have a point when it comes to like, pieces just fitting into a system. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, like you have Mikhail Bridges who knows how to play his role perfectly. Cam Johnson, who knows, I'm going to be a catch and shoot guy with Devin Booker, you know, swinging it out to me. Yeah. You have a bunch of guys that need the ball on their.

hands. It's a little bit more difficult, clunky. It doesn't look like as much of a well-rounded team. So I think that there's definitely something there. Yeah. And I don't think we've had obviously enough time to get to know a lot of these new players yet. You know, we had years with Cam and McHale where we could really get to know their personalities and see them shine. So that obviously is going to play a part in it too. Like this is a new team. And so we haven't had to not enough time to get to know them as like players or like them as team yet. So totally get it. Um, Ted offensive. Thank you. He said Eric Gordon was the one said that. Yeah, Eric Gordon did a great interview talking about why he wanted to come to Phoenix. And he said the fact that Katie and Book embraced each other was a huge reason why he wanted to come here, which you always love to hear. Triple B making another great point in the comment saying Monty was also a big part of that. I totally agree. And you can see the effect that Monty has on teams because look what's happening with the Detroit Pistons right now. They might not be the best team in basketball, but what they're building in Detroit is kind of cool. And you can see that chemistry that has started to form. in Detroit and Monty is their coach.

So I think that is a huge testament to the type of coach that Monty Williams is. And that is a fantastic point that I hadn't thought of until you just said that. So thank you for saying that because I think it's totally valid. I think Monty had a huge part in building that team culture. But I'm just, I love that both Cam and McHale were able to talk to the media and tell everyone how they felt about the sons. And I also think it's great that there are any hard feelings from. mcale or camp towards a son's organization because obviously you know when you are traded away from

an organization there could be some jadedness some upset feelings about having to leave the city that you're used to that you know that you live in or whatever um and i think that was something that was always in the back of my mind is like i know that you know mcale is a jokester and always takes things so lightheartedly which i love but like is he going to be upset about the sun's like is he going to be mad at us like i don't know why it's just like i was like a really like a relationship with that venex sun's where I'm like, please don't be mad at me. So I'm glad to hear that like, obviously there's no hard feelings from what McHale has said so far, which is also great because there were a lot of signs the arena last or that

night that said like build bridges back to 2026 and a lot of people that were like bring Cam and McHale back, which I would die and pass away if that happened. I would love to see Cam and McHale back on this team. Obviously, that's a little farther away. But like I was saying, I'm just so. happy that Kim and McHale said that they could feel the love because they are loved and they are missed. And it was so like it felt right seeing them back in Phoenix and on the court. Obviously, they were wearing a different jersey, which was really hard and weird to see. But just like having

them back, I don't know. This is so weird because they're literally basketball players on a basketball team, but I'm just like so emotionally invested into them because of what they did for the Sons and taking us to a finals and whatever. But just seeing them back on the court in Phoenix just felt right. So I would love to see them come back if that was possible. The Sons also did a lovely, lovely tribute video, which we're going to show you right now if you missed it and you weren't at the game, which a lot of you in the comments said you were at the game and I'm super jealous. I wish I would have gone because if there was a game to go to this season, it was that one. So I'm kind of bummed. I missed it. But if you weren't there, if you haven't seen it, this is what the Sons did for the twins before the game.

Oh, that was such a well done video. I love that it not only showed that they were great basketball players, but their personalities too, like that little shot at the end where they were pretending to box each other. Oh, just so heartwarming. I think, I don't know for sure, but it looked like Cam was getting a little teary-eyed there and it made me want to get teary-eyed. It was a great tribute video that was so well done and I'm glad that the sons did that justice because there's one thing you can't mess up and that's the twins' first game back in Phoenix.

So I'm glad that they didn't mess it up. It was an awesome tribute video and it was great to see. We weren't the only ones. At least I wasn't that was excited to see the twins back after the game. This is what Devin Booker had to say about seeing Cam and McHale again. I mean, it just felt like practice, honestly. Obviously, a lot of emotion there, a lot of feelings there. I, you know, obviously keep up with them every night.

And, you know, my league pass and the Nets are one of my favorite teams. I don't have them start, you know, so if I'm not watching it, I'm getting an alert or checking box scores. You know, them guys are, you know, it's bigger in basketball with them. You know, everybody here knows they're high character. and, you know, they left their mark on this organization. Yeah, they absolutely left their mark on this organization. And books said it best, they're high character individuals,

which makes it so easy to root for them, even if they're not wearing a son's uniform, which is why we care about this, DeAndre. They're just awesome human beings that are so easy to cheer for. And I can say that no matter what uniform they're wearing, I will always cheer for McHale and Cam as people and as players, just not when it's against the suns. Um, but yeah, that team was special that we all know that.

Like they all did amazing things together. And it makes me nostalgic for the sons of years past because like I said, and we'll get into it when we talk about the big three debut. I just haven't seen a team like that in a minute. So, uh, I love you twins. Sorry that you're not on the suns anymore. Sometimes I wish that you were, but I can't say that out loud because people who call me crazy because we've got Kevin Durant.

So I digress. We obviously have to talk about Kevin Durant now because the game against the Nets was the first time that we've seen the big three together in action in a regular season game this year. It was the debut of Bradley Beale, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant all playing a game together. I just am going to say it is a huge relief to even just watch them play basketball together because it was December 13th. It was December 13th when they first played a basketball game together. And I was beginning to think that they might never play a basketball game together at that point. Because we were months into the season at this point and we still hadn't seen them together. I was starting to think it was like a legend, you know, like, are they real?

Is this going to happen? Are they actually going to play together? So just seeing them on the court together alone was a huge relief. I was like, oh, okay, this is real. They're going to play together. this is where they can start finally like building that chemistry that we are already talking about this whole podcast and podcast before this um so just them being on the court together was a win for me but i'm not gonna lie to you guys i was a little underwhelmed um i saw some things that i was like well uh-oh obviously that's bound to happen this is why i'm so bummed that they didn't have time to kind of work out some of these kinks at the beginning of the season because I think we would be leaps and bounds ahead of where we are now as a team if they had been able to start the season together. Because I think a lot of what we saw in that game were things that could have been avoided if they had more playing time together and more time to build like that team chemistry.

And I don't want to like it. Like it wasn't a bad performance from the three of them by any stretch of the imagination. Like I'm not trying to say that I was wildly underwhelmed and majorly disappointed at all. So don't get me wrong there. I mean, Booker had 34 points, 12 assists, six rebounds. Kevin Durant had 27 points, six rebounds, four assists, and then Bradley Biel chipped in 14 points. He shot the team's best six of nine from the floor, and he added four assists. And that was only his second game from returning from injury.

So nothing to shake a finger at, not a bad game at all. I'm not saying that. So please don't come for me. But Booker didn't attempt a field goal in the first quarter, which I guess is a side effect of being a point guard. But it was just kind of weird to watch. I don't know. I'm not used to not watching Devin Booker take shot.

Kevin Durant was really ineffective from three to start out the game, which is not very easy money sniper of him. The whole team actually kind of struggled shooting from three, which when you're playing against one of, if not the best perimeter defensive teams in the game, you really can't afford to struggle shooting from three because the nets will take advantage of that every chance that they get. I just, the team needs chemistry. They need a lot of work. They need to pull it together in some. aspects. I'm not really encouraged by what I've seen from Frank Vogel as a head coach.

Their fourth quarter collapses on defense are, I don't know if I can explain that. They characteristically collapse in the fourth quarter game in and game out and it still hasn't been fixed, which is something that Frank Vogel allegedly is supposed to be able to fix. Nerkich has been able to kind of find his groove a little bit, which is nice because at the beginning of the season, I was like, get Nurgich out of here. Like, ship him away from this team. So I'm glad that at least Nerkich has been able to kind of find a little bit of a groove.

Connor in the comment saying Metsu has been nice. Totally agree. B is saying Metsu, Gordon, and Eubanks can stay in his opinion at this moment. I mean, there are some players on this roster. that haven't contributed much, if at all, nothing. And, you know, I think you saw the difference between where the Sons are and where we thought they were going to be, especially with our stars out. Like, there were people that were supposed to step up to the plate and help this team,

and they just didn't. And, you know, depth is everything in the league. You saw how important depth was last season and the season before that, to be honest with you. The Sons haven't had depth. They haven't had bench depth. and it has bit them in the butt. They've shot themselves in the foot. And so I'm not trying to say that they obviously don't.

They're not in the same position. Like they have more depth, yes, but the depth is not effective. That's scary. It's just been a whirlwind of a season so far, some highs, some lows. They need to be able to get together as a team and get that team chemistry going, which obviously now they can do that because the guys are healthy. But the suns haven't looked like a. great basketball team so far this season. They've obviously had moments. There have been some

individuals that have had some great performances every now and then. But I don't think it's crazy for me to say, I don't think the sons are a good team right now, or a great team right now. They're good. They're okay. They're, they can make it. They can do some things, but they need to step it up and they need to get these kinks worked out fast because there's too much on the line for them to not get this figured out quickly. Um, and, you know, the synergy of the city and the fans and the support around this team, I felt, has kind of been dwindling. So they need to figure out how to get this fixed quickly so that they don't lose the fans. I'm not saying that they would ever, because obviously this is a Sunstown, but you don't

want your fan base to get apathetic. And it feels like we're kind of tiptoeing towards like the apathetic line, which is not great. But I don't know. Like, Damon, do you agree with me? I just don't think the Suns have been great the season. They're pretty mid right now. Like, I watched a lot of Suns games. They're very mid.

And there's a lot of, there's a lot of players that I'm not huge fans of. Yeah. I think that obviously, like, you know when you, when you trade it for Bradley Beal, you're going to have, and Kevin Durant, you're going to have a pretty shallow team. Yeah. But people are talking about it in the chat. Like, like, Bull Bull is, that was one of the worst things I've ever seen when he came into the game the other day.

Don't even get him started on. You know, Drew Eubanks has been okay, not great recently. Uda's been really, really bad. He's awful at defense. Eric Gordon looks terrible. So you got to start getting some contributions from other guys. Yeah. Really do.

Like it's, Nurkich has stepped up like we talked about. Like that's good because early in the season it wasn't looking great there. But like everybody else needs to start stepping up too because it's, it's, that's just going to be the reality of this team's situation with the state of their roster. Yeah, totally agree. I know that some people in the comments are, talking about Bulbul and about him being a project.

I'm over it. I'm done with the Bull Bull Bull project. Like, I don't want to see him anymore play basketball at all. I obviously watched him play basketball with the Nuggets as well because I lived in Denver during the time that he was on that team. And Bulbo is an anonymily. Annamamami. A not an anomaly. Help me.

It's like finding Nemo. I don't know why I struggle so bad with these words. Anemone. Anomily. Anomily. Anomily. In the fact that he will only play basketball. basketball when Bulbul wants to play basketball and you never know when Bulbul wants to play basketball.

It could be his day or it could not be his day and he just like you cannot make him do anything he doesn't want to do. I'm just over him. I'm over watching Bulbul on a basketball court. I'm sorry. I know that some of you might have more faith in him than I do, but I'm done. So it's just I don't, I wish there, it was an easy fix and I wish it was something that like I could just look at the sons and be like, this is what they need to fix and this is how they do it.

But that is not the case at all. I think there's a lot of intangibles that they still have yet to fix that are probably going to take some time. So we'll see how it goes. But I think the suns have a lot to look forward to. But there's also a lot that needs to be corrected. Most importantly, the fourth freaking quarter defense. My God, if I have to watch them collapse in another game in the fourth quarter, I'm going to lose my mind, which is probably going to happen.

So my mind is going to be like down freaking central avenue in a second. But I digress. At least we got to see them play basketball together. just like I said, watching them on the court as a unit was a huge sigh relief because I said I was beginning to think that we were never going to see it happen. So they are here. They are on the court. They are playing basketball together. So like, let's just hope that they can build off of that game and continue on forward. Speaking of the sons, you know, who's not mid. Sean Marion is not mid and he's getting inducted into the ring of honor tonight. Huge shout out to

Sean Marion. What an accomplishment. I'm so glad that we have an owner that under understands and recognizes the importance of recognizing the history of the team and the important pieces and players that contributed to the history of this team. And it just so happens that our game time game of the week is tonight's Sun's game against the New York Knicks. You can get tickets on the game time app right now for as low as $37. Is that what it says? I can't read. $27. 27. My God. You guys, they are going to be recognizing Sean Mary. and introducing and inducting him into the son's ring of honor tonight after the game. So it's not going to be a half-time recognition.

It will be a post-game recognition for Sean Marion. And you can get in the building and watch his induction into the ring of honor for as low as $27. That is freaking insane. If you don't have plans tonight and you're a son's fan, what are you doing? Get your butt to the game. Watch Sean Marion get inducted into the Hall of Fame. and you can do it by heading on over to the GameTime app. They are the best fastest growing ticketing app in the country for a reason.

They have the best deals on tickets no matter what you want to go to, a concert, a sporting event, even if you're just looking for a parking pass to somewhere, game time has it all and for the lowest prices available. Also, tickets make a great holiday gift. So if you're looking to give a present to someone in your life that you love, getting them tickets to a game is a great freaking present. I will say I could be so happy. if somebody would buy me some tickets to a game,

that is the ultimate gift for the sports fan in your life. You can snag tickets without stress on the GameTime app. All you've got to do is download the app, create an account and use promo code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download game time today, last minute tickets, lowest prices, guaranteed. Also want to give a shout out to our friends at Heila River

before we start talking about the Dodgers and Otani and all of that mess. I love Healer River and I have to give a personal, personal thanks to our friends at Healer River because they hooked me up with some tickets to a concert that happened last week. It was an Ernest concert. Ernest is a country artist for those of you who might not know. And I'm a big country girl. Ernest was playing at the Healer River Resort and Casino Wild Horse Pass and it was so much fun. The venue is beautiful. We got to go to dinner in the casino before the concert and then after the concert.

We grabbed drinks at the bar inside the casino and then did some gambling. I lost some money because I'm not very good at gambling. So if you ever want to take me to Vegas, don't because you're probably going to lose money. I cannot gamble to save a life. I have no luck. And I am really bad at Blackjack. So unfortunately, I lost money, but I still had a great time losing money because we were doing it at a Healer River Resorts and Casino. And I just had so much fun.

The concert was awesome. Like I said, the venue is gorgeous. Their seats in that venue are like luxury recline. like they're like amazing comfortable seats um it was just a great venue a great time i took my best friend carly we had a fricking blast so thank you hila river for the tickets if you haven't seen a show or if you haven't been to a concert at wild horse pass you have got to go like i said you can get dinner before you can gamble after you can get drinks after it is just like a one-stop shop for the most fun and entertaining night of your life keeler river resorts and casinos has got you covered

especially at wild horse pass if you go to see a show let me know on twitter hit me up and tell me you go to a show, it's like unmatched. The level of entertainment is unlike anything you will ever experience. You do you at Healer River Resorts and Casinos. Visit play atheila.com for more details. Before we get into it, Tony, I just want to say, the chat got mad at me for saying Eric Gordon is terrible. I want to walk that back.

I looked at his stats. I think I've somehow missed every single one of Eric Gordon's good games this year and watched all of his awful games. So, uh, I... He is inconsistent. I will say. I don't think he sucks. I apologize to Eric Gordon. He has not been terrible.

He has not been terrible, but he has been inconsistent, which is frustrating because I like Eric Gordon as a person. I think he's a great teammate, a great character guy to have in a locker room, but he's definitely been inconsistent so far this season. Oh, I don't want to talk about the Dodgers. I hate the Dodgers. If any of you in this chat are Dodgers fans, I'm sorry you're about to be severely disappointed, but I mean, you might enjoy reveling in the misery that you're about to experience on behalf

of me as a Diamondbacks fan. My worst nightmare came true. I woke up in the middle of a night before Otani signed with the Dodgers in a cold sweat, screaming because I had a feeling. I had a nightmare that Otani was going to sign with the Dodgers, and it came true. And I'm really upset about it because the Dodgers signed Otani for 10 years, $700 million. I think you could probably put the entire payroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks from the time the team was incepted, inception to now. And it probably still wouldn't get close to $700 million. That might be a little bit of an exaggeration.

But it's probably pretty close. Like, what the fuck? How is anybody supposed to compete with a $700 million contract? It is the biggest contract in pro sports history. He passed Lionel Messi, Rinaldo, Patrick. Mahomes who. Shohei Otani has the biggest contract in pro sports history right now and he's playing in the National League West.

Why me? I am so upset about it as if you couldn't tell. This is why I hate baseball sometimes. Like I am a baseball girlie through and through. Like if you know me, I'm the type that will go to a baseball game, listen to the radio broadcast on my little Walkman and keep track, keep score in the scorebook. Like I am that type of baseball person. okay so that's who you're dealing with here and i almost wanted to never watch baseball again

after i saw the tony side of the dodgers like how is anybody supposed to compete with that i'm not even kidding like you could probably put the payroll of the diamondbacks year after year from the time that the diamond back started as a team until now and they probably wouldn't even get close to that contract value and it like how are small market teams ever supposed to compete with that it's so so so frustrating. And I know that this isn't anything new. And teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers and the Red Sox are going to be able to go out and buy whoever they want and get whoever they want to come for their team because they have unlimited money and unlimited resources and the pocketbooks that are deep enough to do it. But God, it's frustrating. Like, we just came off a World Series appearance.

And for once, for once it felt like we were not the little brother of the fucking Los Angeles Dodgers anymore and then they just had to come out and sign show hey otani in the same off season after we just went to a world series and like we can't have anything nice oh it's so frustrating i'm about to like pop my top i'm going to like lose my mind here um yeah i mean it's it's it's like how can we compete how can any small market team compete with that they can't they just don't have the money to do it they have to figure out how to play money ball and how to be more resourceful and it's just frustrating because i would love i would love to be a fan of a team that didn't have to worry about that and could just go out and buy whoever they want, but I'm not. I'm die hard forever until the day that I die.

But I think the worst part about this entire situation is the details behind the contract. This, he deferred $680 million until after his contract is over, which means mathematically, the Dodgers only owe Otani $2 million a year for 10 years. Are you kidding? me. They're paying O'Tonnie $2 million a year to play baseball for them for 10 years. And then after the 10 years is when they're going to have to figure out how to pay this man $680 million. Like the whole deferred part of this contract is the part that really gets me mad. Like really, really pisses me off because we can afford an Otani for $2 million a year. Like, hey, do you want to

come play baseball in Arizona? Otani? We'll pay you $2 million. you're no problem. But we can't afford to pay you that $680 million that you're going to be owed after the 10-year period. Like, I just, oh, it breaks my heart. Like, it is so fucking infuriating. I'm sorry, this is not a safe for work podcast, but I can't keep my cool when I'm talking about the Los Angeles Dodgers. The whole reason that the money is deferred is to help the Dodgers avoid the competitive balance tax, which again is annoying. because the Dodgers owe a lot of taxes in the competitive balance bracket.

I am sick, sick to my stomach and I'm tired of the Dodgers. And to make matters worse, they just traded for one of the best pitchers in baseball. Like now Tyler Glass now is on the fucking roster. Awesome. Great. Because if not having probably the best baseball player, generational baseball player, the most insane talent, like just a, A generational defining baseball player in Joey Otane.

Oh, sure. Let's go fucking sign Tyler Glass now. Awesome. Great. Let's just, you know, get him here too. I love that for me.

I love that for everyone else. That's not a Dodgers fan. Like, are you kidding me? They traded for Tyler Glass now. And then he signed, he was immediately like, you know what?

I'm looking at this roster. I'm liking what I'm seeing. I'm kind of liking my odds here. So I'm just going to sign an extension right now. Like, go ahead and sign that. Give me that contract. and I'm going to sign that extension. And the total contract is valued at $135 million.

We don't have that money, you guys. The Diamond Macs do not have that money. They have made one big signing this off season, and it was for a pitcher, and the total contract value was $80 million. We cannot afford to pay pitchers $135 million. And obviously, that's market value. good on Tyler Glassnow for getting his money, getting what he's owed.

The deal averages out. It's a five-year, it's a total total of five-year deal. It averages out to about $27 million a year. The Dodgers total payroll for 2024 is roughly $251 million. That's after Glassnow and Otani's contracts. $251 million total payroll. Um, that's a lot of money. We don't have that type of money here in Arizona.

Honestly crazy. It's not 300 to me. I'm sure it will be by the I wouldn't be surprised if they get it to that point. It's nuts to me that there's somehow. I mean, good management on their part to keep that under 300 with all of those players. It wouldn't be if Otani wasn't like, yeah, sure, just pay me $2 million a year. It's true. Otani.

Yeah. The 70 million alone pushes that over 300. Yeah. Yeah. Like, are you kidding me? like why could you just not say you know what dodgers thank you for my money but enjoy having to figure out how to pay that competitive balance tax the competitive balance tax threshold in 2024 is 237 million dollars so i can't do math that well but i know that 251 million dollars which is

the dodgers payroll is over the 237 million dollar competitive tax balance threshold the team the dodgers paid that tax in 2021 2020 and 2023 which means that they were over over the competitive tax balance cap three years in a row, which means that they are subjected to even higher rates on the competitive tax balance because of the fact that they paid the tax three years in a row. And the four thresholds that are on this competitive tax balance are in 20 million increments. So I have to do math really fast.

They're still within the first threshold of the competitive tax balance because they haven't exceeded that first $20 million threshold yet. And obviously, Otani's contract, if it was divided up in any other way, probably would have put them over that second or even third threshold of the competitive tax balance. I'm just frustrated. I'm so frustrated. It is so unfair for teams like the Diamondbacks or the Rays or God bless the A's, my God. It's just like we can never win.

We can never have anything nice. And obviously, like baseball, I was talking to Jesse. Friedman about this, who's our D-BACs reporter. I was like, why doesn't baseball have a salary cap? Like, please explain this to me, because to me, the easiest way to make the sport more balanced and more competitive is to have a salary cap. And Jesse's like, they're never going to do that. They're never going to do that.

The owners are never going to go for that. The owners of like the bigger teams are never going to want that. And, you know, the players are obviously not going to want that either because that limits how much money is lining their pockets. So the players are never going to be like, yeah, sure, let's have a salary cap, you know, let's have less money available on the table for what you could pay me. So as far as like a salary cap coming, that's not going to happen. And then people were righteously frustrated about the deferred money and they were, you know, clamoring.

Like, is this allowed? Is this even legal? Like there was a meme that was like, what's something that's not illegal or that's, yeah, what's something that's not illegal but feels illegal? the Otonic contract feels illegal, even though it's not. The deferment is something that the MLBPA is all for, and the players are all for it too, because if it means at the end of the day,

at some point they're going to get a ridiculous amount of money, even if it's 10 years down the road, they're all for it. So the players are never going to want to take away the deferment out of their MLBPA agreement, because, again, they're getting a bunch of money, and it doesn't matter if it's now or if it's 10 in 10 years. At some point, Shoah Otani is going to be a $700 million millionaire. So you know what? Like it's never going to

change. Like they're never going to get a salary cap. They're never going to change the deferment option. Like it's just beyond frustrating to me. And I really hate it because I think it would be cool to see what type of success could be had if there was more of a balance in terms of the payroll through a salary cap. We're never going to get to see that unfortunately. I think the one saving thing, the one saving grace that baseball has is the fact that it's a marathon and it's not a sprint and especially with the expansion of the playoffs now, which if I ever in my life hear anybody in complaining about the expanded playoffs ever again, I'm going to literally just print out Shohei Otani's contract and show you that. And see, like, you know what?

If there's a chance for us to be a team like the freaking Dodgers who pay their players $700,000, $700 million, the expanded playoffs is that way. Because once you get to the playoffs, all bets are off. nobody thought that the diamond backs were going to sweep the dodgers nobody thought that they were going to beat philly nobody thought they were going to make it to the world series but they did because baseball is a marathon it's not a sprint and the diamond backs were able to remain competitive enough throughout the entire regular season to get into a wild card spot because of the expanded playoffs and then they were able to fuck shit up and that only happened because they expanded the playoffs and that is the only fighting chance that smaller market teams have into getting to a world series title and getting success and getting to be successful. So I never in my life ever want to hear people complaining about the expansion

of the MLB playoffs ever again, because that's the only chance that these small market teams are going to have. So I'm obviously annoyed and I'm frustrated that we're going to have to see Shohei Otane play baseball more than we did in the past because now he's in the National League West. But you know who's not worried about it? I didn't break it. Kendrick. Kenny Warbugs, the owner of the Diamondbacks, spoke with the media following the press. conference that they held for their new pitcher pitcher edward joe randriguez and this is what daddy and kettie had to say percent times 24 million last time i looked is 4.8 million so they do get that savings it's not as though they're not doing something attractive but you got to put it in

perspective now he's as i said and would repeat he's a great player actually i think it's good for us that we get to compete against him uh you know he's his last i looked he's when one of nine. And the last also looked, he's a designated hitter. It's a great player. Is he the second coming? I would suggest not. Would you like to have a player of that talent on your team?

Of course, everyone would. And, yeah, we'll have fun competing against them. We already did have fun competing against them. At least the last time. That whole clip is so crazy to me because I have always thought of Shohay Otani as the second coming because this is the most insanely talented baseball player we've ever seen. But Ken Kendrick was like, meh, he's one of nine.

He's a designated hitter. And I'm like, okay, pop off. Ken Kendrick, like, put Shohei Otani in his place. Like, you tell him who's boss. So that whole clip is just wild for me to watch. Yeah, I love it. I respect that. Major hater energy.

Shout out. Kendrick guy, but after that, like, he shot up. Biggest fan. Biggest fan in the world. Like, Shohei Otani, who? I'm obsessed with Ken Kendrick after that. But, yeah, I mean, I guess in some aspects that he's right. Like, he is one of nine on a roster.

Again, that roster is stacked when he's in the lineup as a DH. It's kind of scary. And, you know, he has been injured. He has some injury proneness. He's 29 years old. So he is a little bit on the older spectrum. an older spectrum on the age spectrum he's on the higher end um and i don't necessarily know this might be crazy and i'm by no means like trying to like manifest this or anything like that because i would

never but like i don't know if he's always going to be a pitcher or pitching because i just don't know if his body can like hold up long enough for that to be like a long term thing and i'm not trying to say that like that's what i want to happen or anything like that i'm not wishing ill or anything or trying to like say that that that's what i want to happen but you know there's not not he's not invincible he there are some you know cracks in this operation here and so would you give a 29 year old sometime injury prone pitcher of 700 million dollars I don't know it is a generational player a generational talent I'm not a GM in baseball for that reason um can kendron humbled show hey just out the gate shumbled show show hey

which I never thought I would hear Ken Kendrick do in my lifetime, but I'm here for it. Like I said, I stand. And shout out to Jesse for getting that clip because that clip went viral on the internet. Like every baseball outlet and their mom picked it up, barstool, John Boy,

you name it. It was on that website. And everyone in the comments is kind of like, is he wrong? He hasn't won in the playoffs. We haven't seen Shohei in a playoff situation because the angels are the best team in baseball at wasting generational talent. I'm looking at you, Mike Trout. Um, so for some reason, the great generational talents go to die in the Los Angeles Angels organization. And we haven't

seen him in a playoff situation. So it may seem like doomsday, but Ken Kendrick said, oh, up, pump the brakes. It is not doomsday. He is one of nine. Um, absolute icon for that. So yes, it is frustrating. It is something that the diamondbacks are unfortunately going to have to deal with for the next 10 years and it sucks. I'm not saying that it doesn't. But thank you, Ken Kendrick for reminding us that it is all going to be okay. Absolutely icon for that. Before we round out the show, I also quickly want to talk about the fact that we finally heard from our brand new pitcher that we spent $80 million on. Eduardo Rodriguez had his introductory press conference this past week. He got his little D-Bax jersey, which, by the way, I know this isn't

necessarily the best picture of it. Sorry, Jesse, for throwing it out of the bus. But the off-white D-back's jersey in action is, oh, it is so sick. There was another picture that they took of the back of it with his nameplate, which the nameplay was a little small, I'll say. So hopefully they'll fix that. But the off-wide jerseys are beautiful. I want one for Christmas or my birthday, which is in exactly one week. If anyone was wondering, it is my birthday in next week. No big deal or anything. But yeah, the off-white jersey is gorgeous. You love seeing Eduardo here in the Valley with D. Baxter's Yon. And his press conference was awesome.

He obviously English is his second language, but he went up there and he talked to the media. Like he owns this team and it was awesome to see. And this is what he had to say. I will say the family wise because I can stay here in Arizona the whole time. It's been training season is here. Probably like the biggest reason. The second reason for me was I know these guys are just coming out of the World Series. you know I know they're hungry for winning the World Series

and I want to be part of it. I know like how they're preparing them they're getting ready for this next season and I want to be part of the of that team they're going to bring a World Series year. Yeah, hell yeah, Eduardo. We are off of a World Series appearance, damn it. You know who didn't go to the World Series last year?

The freaking Dodgers, because you know why they got swept by who? Or Otani, right? The Diamondbacks. Did Otani go to the World Series? Otani didn't go to the World Series. He didn't go to the playoffs. So, yeah, hell yeah.

Fun fact, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Joey Otani combined for one more hit than me and you in the MLB postseason this past season. That is the best stat that you could have possibly thrown out. Get me on a roster right now. I'll show him. Just kidding. Yeah, so you guys know how I feel about Eduardo.

I talked about it last podcast because we talked about the fact that he's a big Dodger hater and vetoed a trade to the Dodgers last season from the Tigers. So Eduardo is already an icon in my book. Between Eduardo Rodriguez and Daddy Kenny, we are at a great, great place. I am not letting the fact that there is a generational once-in-a-lifetime baseball player in the National League West distract from the fact that the Diamondbacks made it to the World Series, and they're not done, I don't think, in this free agency yet,

and we're going to counter your Otani with probably a J.D. Martinez. We're going to see who gets more hits in the playoffs. J.D. Martinez, Shohay Otani. And then we'll talk about that $700 million God giant, okay? I just have to rationalize this somehow so I don't cry. Oh my gosh. That's the show. You love it.

You love to see it. Charles Woodrow-Buy, defending National League chants. Let's fucking go. That's right. The National League is ours, at least for another couple months, until the regular season starts again. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. If you didn't hear, it is my birthday next week.

and it is on Friday and I took the day off so I will not be here hosting TBSP because I will be in not in Phoenix I will be celebrating my birthday as I should because you only get one birthday and mine just happens to be next week and I'm not making a big deal of it or anything but I better see some of you tweeting at me happy birthday on the internet uh David are you going to give me a present

I'll think about it you'll think about it yeah I'll think about it well you know what I want off white Dback's jersey no more red wine i'm not consuming red wine for more than ever again i'm never never again no more red wine for me um i hope you all love the show i love all of you charles b's mike connor daniel elizabeth anyone else in the chat that i might have missed thank you all so much for tuning in i am going to go take a nap because i am hung over i'm going to hydrate and then i'm going to go out again tonight because i say that i'm not going to drink again and then i literally do

the next day so you know i went to arizona state I don't know what else you can expect. Thank you all so much for tuning in. I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful weekend, and I won't see you next week, but you can tell me happy birthday on the internet. Bye!