PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Which D-backs Free Agents Are WORTH Bringing Back in 2027?

Episode Date: October 13, 2026

The Arizona Diamondbacks have plenty of work to do this offseason, but the first order of business is deciding which of their own free agents are worth bringing back for 2027. We break down who we would keep, who we would let walk, and how a reduced payroll could complicate those decisions. Plus, the Milwaukee Brewers take a commanding 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers, who may be reaching the point where they need to consider benching Shohei Ohtani, and we recap Game 1 between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays, who are still baseball's most dedicated purveyors of terrible stadium experiences. And with the inevitable December work stoppage looming, it's time for us to play Lockout Simulator 2027, now featuring 100% fewer Dr. Seuss characters.0:00 Welcome to the PHNX D-backs Podcast! 3:25 Departing free agents: Keep or cut? 🤔 13:35 Expiring contract starting pitchers 19:15 Bullpen decisions 27:00 McCann + Vargas back?33:50 MLB Postseason updates 44:30 Lockout simulator 🎮 1:01:40 Give foul balls to kids!!!BECOME A DIEHARD: gophnx.com/join JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-lockerALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of PhoenixPHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/ACE HVAC: If you are having an AC, Plumbing or electrical issue, call our friends over at ACE: [phone] , tell them PHNX sent you, they’ll take great care of you!Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX15 at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 15% off your first order!Husband & Wife Law Team: If you’ve had a serious injury, Call The Husband & Wife Law Team first at 602-783-8841 or visithttps://husbandandwifelawteam.com/?utm_source=allcity-padcasts&utm_medium=digital-phx&utm_campaign=allcityShowNotesGametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: PHNX for 40% 2+ pairs of off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.Circle K:  Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!New DraftKings customers sign up with code PHNX, spend just five bucks, and get two hundred in rewards within 21 days. That’s code PHNX. In partnership with DraftKings. The Crown Is Yours. Gambling problem? Call one eight hundred NEXT STEP. Twenty-one plus. Arizona only. Eligibility restrictions apply. Fifty dollars in non-withdrawable Bonus Bets issued every seven days via click-to-claim for twenty-one days. Bonus Bets expire seven days after issuance. 1 football Boost per customer. Maximum bet limits and restrictions apply. Tokens expire at the end of the final select game each day when offered. Terms at d k n g dot c o slash offer.  Limited time offer.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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have a lot of decisions to make this offseason, but the biggest ones involve who they are going to bring back of their current crop of free agents. We are talking about which ones we would bring back and how the payroll will play into that. And we're doing that right now. Don't you go anywhere. Welcome into another edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast, presented by our friends at Circle K. Hi, friends. It's your mayor of PhNX, occasionally known as Derek Montia.

Thrilled to have you guys here and thrilled to be talking about Arizona. Diamondbacks baseball. Great to see you, Jason. Sad Allie didn't join us again today, but I will make sure to say as many curse words as I'm allowed to since she's not here. Welcome in to all of you guys. We are talking about the Arizona Diamondbacks today. We're also going to give you some updates, maybe some positive updates on the National League Championship series. And I mean, I don't know. We don't really care about the American League Championship series anymore now that the White Sox have been eliminated. But this show is brought to you by our friends at game time. Make sure you go download that game time app today. Create an account and use our code of PHNX to get $20 off your first purchase. Terms do apply. To, I don't know. Like I said, I'm not enjoying the playoffs nearly as much without, you know, a dog in the race. But as we said yesterday, we are a Milwaukee Brewer's podcast now.

We are also a Tampa Bay Rays podcast. I don't know if we can bring ourselves to be Cleveland Guardians podcast, but we'll do whatever it takes to get the job done. and that job is making sure the Dodgers don't parade around a championship trophy. I also suspect that the Dodgers just might use this if they lose as an opportunity to be like, oh, look at all the small market teams that ended up getting in instead of us. We don't need a salary cap. Yeah, right.

We see right through you, Dodgers. We see what you're trying to do. Lose on purpose just so the brewers can make it in against the Tampa Bay raise and nobody watches that World Series. Yeah, I see what you're doing. Anyway, though, we got in-house business to take care of, and that in-house business involves the Arizona Diamondbacks in which of their free agents they are going to bring back for 2027. Now, this is not the same crop of free agents that they had last year, guys on expiring contracts that they had to part ways with at the trade deadline because the season wasn't going the way they thought it would. And again, some of those trades brought back some very valuable prospects and pieces that have become staples already in this organization, right? Brandon Garcia is a guy I think of immediately off the top of my head, for instance.

Not to mention how much they needed to rely on two of those three starting pitchers they got in the Merrill Kelly trade. But this time, the Diamondbacks have a potential crop of, I guess, bullpen arms, mostly that is leaving that could change the dynamic of this game. They also have some starting pitchers that also could be leaving or, in fact, are leaving and for good reason at this point. But looking at the list of departing free agents, the Diamondbacks have Zach Gallen and Corbin Burns as starting pitchers along with Michael Soroka that are all free agents after this season. Now, Corbin Burns is not necessarily a free agent. He just has the early termination option in his contract that he could institute, but most likely will not. He's already guaranteed a considerable amount of money from this franchise. and in all honesty, I also feel like not trying to speak on his behalf,

but if I was Corbyn Burns, I would want to stick around here in Arizona, perhaps just to actually give this team maybe what they brought me on to give them. Right. Again, not speaking for him, I don't know if this is how he feels, but if I was paid the amount of money that Corbyn Burns was paid by the Diamondbacks, I would want to give them their money's worth if I could.

and a part of that would involve him sticking around on this contract and perhaps returning to the level of being a, you know, ace Cy Young award winner that he once was. There's no way to know if that's the case, but I feel strongly that Corbin Burns can get back to that point. I also think that, you know, his desire to return this year possibly factored into why he had setbacks and why he wasn't able to, you know, finish the season up there at the end. But, of course, Zach Gowan and Michael, Seroca also free agent starting pitchers for the Diamondbacks this offseason.

Then as far as position players go, they do have James McCann, who's an unrestricted free agent, as well as the man that Damon had to apologize to profusely throughout this season. Ildemarovar Vargas, they say second baseman, but is he really that, or is he just an everything kind of guy? He's also a restricted free agent. But like I said, the biggest crop of free agents the Diamondbacks have this offseason involves their bullpen. We have Kevin Ginkle being the most notable member of this bullpen

that is currently a free agent. You also have A.J. Puck, who, again, another pitcher that the Diamondbacks didn't necessarily get everything out of that they wanted to get out of in his time with this team. Besides A.J. Puck, they have Ryan Thompson, Jonathan Loisigga, aka Johnny Lazzania, Taylor Clark, and Derek Law that are all unrestricted free agents. Derek Law, obviously, not a part of this team any longer

after the Diamondbacks designated him for assignment, but a guy that the Diamondbacks very well could consider bringing back, considering how well he performed for this team when he was a part of it. He was a dog for this team, not to mention the fact, amazing name, amazing name, and well spelled at that. But when you look at some of the news that's come out from some of these free agents in regards to what could possibly happen with them, you do have Michael Soroka stating that he did want to come back to this team

but according to reports he is likely to decline the $10 million mutual option, which is no surprise at all. We don't usually even consider a mutual option to really be an option, right? Usually one party or the other wants more money or less money in regards to that contract, so it's too easy for a mutual option to be turned down by one side. But Michael Soroka did say he would be in favor of a long-term deal with the Diamondbacks. and his annual value, according to SpotTrack right now, is around $14 million per year. I would say considering what Soroka gave this team, especially even though it was a limited sample size,

was still enough for me to believe in him and feel like $14 million per year is not out of the question. But long-term deal would probably be three years or more, and the Diamondbacks at that point would have to, you know, consider committing around $43 million plus to Michael Soroka for the future. I don't know if you feel strongly about that, but Michael Soroka is still a young man, despite how many years he's spent in Major League Baseball.

I think the guy has a lot in the tank, and I think that, again, he might just be of value considering what he gave the Diamondbacks in 2026 at $14 million a year. We spent 20 million on gallon, and we spent 20 or 40 million on Merrill Kelly. Right? So, I mean, at this point, it feels like the Diamondbacks

obviously can't trust going into 2027 with just a five-man rotation, as Corbyn Burns once prophetically said. You never get through a season with just five starting pitchers. So I do think that Michael Soroco being interested in coming back and wanting what seems like, in my opinion, a fairly reasonable amount of money is doable. But we're going to talk about that and we're going to play a little game here in a moment where we decide on which guys we want to bring back.

But beyond those guys, of course, you also have your bullpen arms, you have your position players. I don't think any of these players are like franchise altering. I think this is much different than last year. I think this is much different than the decisions the Diamondbacks had to make at the trade deadline last year. I also think that this is a far more complete team than it was. during last off season. I think that by far is one of the things you could say about the Diamondbacks, despite the fact that this doesn't feel great going into the 2027 season with the roster

that we have. I think that this roster is still far more complete and still has far less needs than it did last season, even with the fact that we want to kind of apparently reduce payroll, which we still don't really know if. it's going to be a thing that we do based on the fact that, you know, we don't know what this new CBA is going to bring for this entire organization. It very well could be that the Diamondbacks want to reduce payroll regardless of what the new CBA brings. And with the way things are going, there's a good chance that the new CBA is not going to bring a hard salary cap. And it might not even

bring a salary floor, which I do think would be a huge mistake. You know, I think that a salary floor is, as I've suggested in the past, far more necessary as Damon has suggested in the past, far more necessary overall here. And did I even introduce you, by the way, or am I actually 10 minutes into the podcast without even acknowledging your existence? I don't believe you did, but that's okay, Derek. It's not about me. It's about the people of this chat.

It's about this fine program of ours. I am never going to hear the end of this. just know it. I'm never going to hear. He sounds cool with it. He sounds chill. You know, like when your significant other is like okay with it in front of the other people at the party. I'm cool. But you know you're going to yell that in the car on the way home. That's what I feel like. That's where we're at. But bark, bark. Totally. Totally chill. He's he's the bad boy around here for a reason. but, per John Gambadoro, the Diamondbacks, according to his tweet, would like to bring back reliever Taylor Clark. He also went on to say, Herardo Carrillo, Cade Stoud, Juan Burgos,

are names likely in the pen mix for 27. Now, Carrillo was amazing. I mean, I know he kind of like fizzled out there a little bit at the end of the season, but man, the kid was outstanding, and that was kind of when he was called upon out of nowhere due to need. He delivered. Cade Stroud, meanwhile, a little bit of a disappointment, considering what the Diamondbacks gave up in Blaze Alexander. Blaze goes on to become a absolute stud for the Baltimore Orioles, even after breaking his hand, or I think he broke his hand.

Yeah, I mean, he was like kind of like they're, I feel like maybe like they're relative to expectations, their best performer this season in Baltimore. Yeah, you're right. As far as exceeding expectations and, being like far better than they could have expected. Meanwhile, you could definitely say the opposite about Cade Stroud, who didn't see very much major league time. And when he did, did not look like he was exactly going to be what we thought

he was going to be being picked up by this team. But again, that's very early in his career. And it does look like according to Gambo, that the Diamondbacks are going to be utilizing him much more next season. So I guess that is where it kind of remains to be seen. how much, you know, how well that trade ends up working out for this team. The biggest and most interesting part about Gambo's tweet is that he said, Ryan Thompson is looking for a fresh start elsewhere, likely won't be back.

And I know there's mixed feelings on Ryan Thompson, but who's going to give me, who's going to attempt to R.K.O. me in the clubhouse now, now that Ryan Thompson's gone. Who am I going to talk to about the outcome of WrestleMania and such once he leaves? Nobody. I'm going to be so sad. I'm going to have to wait for... Back to having no friends, Derek. Oh, God.

Disaster. It's a disaster. Derek Law liked me. Bring him back. But speaking of bringing people back, we're going to make our own choices here. We're going to talk a little bit about the contracts, the expected values, but we're going to take a look at this list and decide on which of these players we, would bring back, Damon and I

on this show. And we're going to do this based on how much I like them individually as people. That's what we're going to do this on. Now, let's take a look here at our keeper cut board that Damon meticulously put together here. And we got all of our free

agents there in the middle. And I think if we just let's just start at the beginning there. Zach Gallin sorry, gone from this team. I don't think there's much of a argument to be made otherwise, right, Damon? I mean, I'm not trying to make this into a slander session, but I will say that Zach Allen was a huge disappointment for this team next year and would be one of the first names that I would not, probably not even consider bringing

back in 2027. Yeah, I'm right there with you, Derek. You know, I think, you know, probably, not even probably, definitely the biggest underperformer based off of what you paid him on the entire team this past season. Merrill Kelly also an issue in that regard. But Merrill Kelly at least, you know, was able to complete a full season and was not the worst pitcher in all of baseball over the course of the year, which I think Zach Gallen might have been. So he did teeter on the edge there. No, he was a bet, but that was that was at the end of the season when all the qualifying pitchers start dropping off because there's the truly horrible pitchers are are gone at that point. You know what I mean? No one makes it through to.

August and Merrill Kelly was still eating innings for you late into the season. So he had a little bit of a saving grace. Yeah. And he still had good starts. He still had good starts. And there were times where you just didn't feel like Merrill going out there was going to be a complete disaster. All right. Corbyn Burns out of our control.

But as far as we're concerned, we're bringing Corbin Burns back. And Corbyn Burns, as far as we feel, is going to opt into that deal. So I think Corbin Burns wants to stay a diamond back. so I think we'll see Corbin Burns back in a debacks uniform. But Michael Soroka, very interesting as far as he is concerned. Now, like I said, the Diamondbacks with, if Burns returns, they have their five-man rotation, which, as we said, you never make it through a season with just five men. As far as I'm concerned, Michael Soroka is better than other free agent options that you're going to go out and get.

He wants to be here. He still wants to prove himself. and he is not asking for a ridiculous amount of money if his annual value here is truly, or his estimated annual value on a contract is going to be around $14, $15 million, I honestly feel like that is a deal, Damon.

I mean, this man at one point, he came in and his first three games, we were comparing him to Randy Johnson. Not in a joking way, in an actual statistical manner, things he was doing in his first, first three starts compared to only one pitcher in Diamondbacks history and that picture was Randy Johnson. I was going to say, I don't know if it was we as much as it was maybe one guy.

Fair. Fair. Fair. But also, you get what I'm saying, right? It's definitely a guy that came in here was putting up some impressive strikeout numbers and you felt like for what the Diamondbacks were paying him, seven and a half million dollars a year, that he was the steel of the offseason for this team. So as far as I'm concerned, I'm making. bringing back Michael Soroka a priority and probably the only starting pitcher that I'm going to pursue this this off season with the limited amount of budget that we have. As long as Corbin Burns returns. As long as Corbyn's returns.

That's the caveat. True. And that is the, I do think that the math does become, yes, are you willing to say we're going into the season with basically a lot of the same starting pitchers that you attacked last season with? Because if you bring back Soroka, you have Erod, Soroka, you have Erod, Raroka, likely. Corbyn Burns, Brandon Fatt,

Ryan Nelson. That's probably your five going into the season. And do you think that's good enough? I think Soroka had a great year this year. Erod,

you're probably not going to get another year like that again out of them. And Soroka, I think you could make the argument that maybe that was his best year potentially. Or is it that he's an ascending player

that maybe has had a lot of talent but has dealt with injuries? And that's the other problem is that what kind of long-term contract are you going to sign him to? with his injury issues. So I'm fine with $15 million a year, Derek,

but my problem is more with the year amount on that contract. So what does that look like for you? What how many years on that contract at that, around that value, are you comfortable giving Michael Seruca? Three years. That's the most that I could possibly give him. And I probably wouldn't even give them 45 million.

I'd offer like 40, 42, try to get in that neighborhood below 45. Maybe a player option in year or three or something. Sure. Sure. Yeah. I mean, given that control, given that ability to walk if he wishes to, right? But yeah, when it came into, hold on, Killer Rex is here. I thought you were done with Diamondbacks baseball after. And he's sitting here spamming our chat talking about comparing Soroka to RJ. Yes. And it's not like I was doing that based on his form or the fact he looked like him. I am talking about statistically, we were talking about Soroka's first three starts as a member of the Diamondbacks, he only compared in strikeout numbers and other factors to Randy Johnson. That's where the joke came in. It's Derek's favorite stat.

It is. So Michael Soroka, we're keeping him. Let's move him over to the keep pile. And then let's move Killer Rex into the cut pile immediately. Into the band file. Most of the people don't even see his tweets because they've all blocked him. But anyway, this is probably the most difficult one of them all. as far as at least you and me emotionally, Damon.

It does feel like Kevin Ginkle already does have one foot out the door as a free agent. It does. He did give his goodbye message essentially on Instagram. It doesn't necessarily mean it's goodbye, but I don't know. I feel like this is very much like what Gambo just said about Ryan Thompson, where it feels like he probably doesn't seem to want to return. And I'm not saying that he doesn't like it here,

and I'm not saying anything else other than, you know, he it seems like he doesn't want to come back and it looks like he's seeking a you know just a new start somewhere else i agree with you derrick um you know i certainly don't want that to be the case i think you know kevin ginkle despite maybe i think at times like there's like a weird asu subsect of the fan base that like wants to see him fail which i think is extremely odd but don't they want to see every but i root for merrill kelly that's there's there's the difference there so yes i'm a better fan than those people. But, you know, last year he had a three five fit, Derek. He had a, you know, 412 ERA. And I think it kind of ballooned at the end of the season. He was horrible in 2025, to be fair.

But I thought he was pretty good last year. And I thought he had, you know, kind of some of his, showing some of his 2023 stuff. So I would like to see him back, but I don't think that he will be back. So should we just move him into the cup pile, even though that's not our choice? even though that's not our heart speaking that way? I don't know. I mean, I guess that's kind of, we're right now, that's the, this is going to change the direction of how we approach the rest of this game. Is it what we think is going to happen or is it what we think, like, are we trying to be

semi-realistic while we're doing this keeping cut? Yeah, I think we should be. Then I think then we put him in the cut category because I doubt that Kevin Ingle gets brought back based off of his Instagram post, based off of him being the last guy in the Duggan, out at the end of the season in his hometown of San Diego just sitting there looking out at the baseball field like it just felt like it was the writing on the wall of him being his diamond back senior being over yeah so and then let's also just put Ryan Thompson in cut as well for the same reason considering Gambo's comments about him seeking out a new new home elsewhere all right

all right so then AJ puck similar situation right I don't know if AJ puck wants to return and I don't know if after what the diamondbacks have paid for him and his injury, you know, history that he's had in his time here if they would want to bring him back. They have his, they don't really have him his market value estimate for next season right now. Well, I mean, because truthfully, what is it? Yeah. I mean. What do you expect it to be? He's a lefty who's six foot five, who throws hard, has nasty stuff, is a great pitcher, but has had back-to-back injuries now. What kind of contract do you give that guy? A long-term contract? short-term contract.

And you haven't even seen him pitch since returning from that injury, and you don't know how effective he's going to be. Zach Gallin's value dropped by far the most of anybody from one year to the next as far as his annual value is concerned. We're talking about Zach went from being paid $22 million last year to his market value this year being $6.7 million, which still seems high. Meanwhile, they don't have anything for AJ Puck.

Let's go based on his value of $3.1 million. I mean, I still feel like the Diamondbacks have found a good bullpen. And considering that they need to figure out ways to shed contracts, I do think that cutting AJ Puck and moving on from him would be a good way to do so. So let's go ahead and move him into the cut pile, even though I don't really want that at the end of the day. Can I say my piece on AJ Puck? Can I just like the Diamondbacks can't afford to do that.

Yeah. Yeah. No, I just, all I'll say is that I think that the Diamondbacks obviously, oh man, not ready to go. Oh, at least it didn't show up on the screen. The Diamondbacks are, in my opinion, in a position where they uniquely know what is going on with AJ Puck. They like more so than the other teams. True. Because they've been around him and they've been around his rehab for a minute here.

So I think that there is the opportunity if the Diamondbacks think that he is pretty close to getting back to full health or they think his stuff hasn't dropped off or whatever the case may be to. to potentially get some good value out of out of that player. But that is stuff that obviously is above mine and your pay grade there. We have no idea if AJ Puck is 85% of what he used to be. If he's back to 100 already, you know, like that that's detailed stuff that I think people behind the scenes would know way more about. How long is it going to take for him to get back to playing at a major league level at this point, right? That's really the question. You would think pretty fast.

I would think so too. You would think he'd be ready at the start of the season, but what does that look like? Is he his old self or is he a worse version of that? That's a great point. I would be looking at giving AJ Pucko a short-term type of deal that paid him not maybe as like the elite elite reliever that he maybe could be, but a touch under that, you know, like a $10 million contract for one year. And, you know, he's potentially the most important piece in the bullpen. that's a big if, if we trust his health and they think that he's ramping back up. But I agree with you.

I think it's more likely than not that he is in the cut category here. So I'm fine with it for the sake of this game. But I definitely would be interested in bringing back AJ Puck at the right price if his health looks pretty good. I think one thing we have to do here, though, is figure out ways logistically and realistically that how can we get the, payroll down. Now, the Diamondbacks do have plenty of guys in the bullpen that have proved themselves this year. One of those guys is Loisica, but they are suggesting over at Spot Track that his contract is going to go up and his annual value based on how good he was with the Diamondbacks this year went from being paid $5 million last year by the debacks to 8.1 for Johnny Lausagna.

So while that is good for him, I don't know how good that is for the Diamondbacks. I don't know if I'm willing to pay him that at all. This is a guy who struggled with injuries, like his entire career. Yeah. Until he went to the Diamondbacks and had one, like, successful season where he stayed healthy. And I feel like that alone is reason to kind of maybe stay away. Well, Taylor Clark, meanwhile, who gave the Diamondbacks some very, very valuable innings. And as Gambo suggested, the Diamondbacks are interested in bringing him back.

They're suggesting his contract is going to be more around $1.4 million. Now, if you're talking about those two guys, Taylor Clark being 1.4 million and Loisaga being 8.1, yeah, sorry, Johnny LaSagna. As much as I love you bringing it the high cheese and bringing it hot, bringing it fresh, we're going to have to cut you. Good luck getting that 8.1 somewhere else. And I hope you do. You deserve it. You actually were very good for this team this year and you did exactly what a, you know, free agent looking to rebound could do with a season.

like this with the Diamondbacks, right? But I think the Diamondbacks can't afford to pay that kind of contract. Meanwhile, you know how I feel about Derek Law. Get him over to the key pile right now, Damon. Don't even hesitate. We're talking about less than a million dollars for a guy with the best name on the team.

He's a keeper. He was awesome. He was a righty specialist. And I think he just gives the Diamondbacks, he gave the Diamondbacks some consistent innings last year. So I like him a lot. I like Derek Law a lot. And it's not just his name,

but yes, it is his name. basically we're down to two guys James McCann and Ildemar Vargas now of our favorite guys two of our favorite human beings on earth James McCann it is estimated that his value is actually going to go down despite what he did with this team this year 2.7 last year for this team spot track is marketing has his market value at 1.7 next year I bet it looks pretty similar to that 2.7 I bet it does too and I say get him back on my team as my backup catcher not only does he bring wisdom not only does he bring the ability to still he I don't know, does he still have it? But that's a value, as far as I'm concerned, for an actual backup catcher that can give you the kind of production that James McCann can still give you. He's a better hitter than your typical backup catcher. And to me, that's an important thing to have when roster building

because you're going to need that guy to be in your lineup pretty consistently. And you don't want him to be just a black hole, like say, you know, maybe like a, what was the dude? Why am I blanking on the dude's name? Jeff Mathis. Like that guy, you know, he was a really good player, but he just wasn't a very good hitter. And I think that there's value in having a catcher that can put up like an 800 OPS like

James McCann just did. So I hope they'd bring him back. He didn't look like he was showing signs of slowing down at all. Last but not least, Vargy. Damon, what are we doing, Vargy? So what's his value at, Derek? Because this is a tough conversation for me. He had $1.2 million was what his contract was last year.

is at 3 million almost 3.1 for his market value or just 3 million let's say 3 million for his market value in 2027 I would be willing to take bring him back at that number I thought it might be closer to five yeah um and I think that he here's a big reason why Derek that position that I have next to his name utility the guy can play first second a little bit of short third corner outfield spots you know he's good at everything and he's great for vibes and that's the type of thing that you know I think is underrated in the locker room in a discussion when you're talking about keeping a clubhouse you know ready to go and this is a guy who's friends with all of the best players on the team because they all love them they all respect him everyone thinks he's a great

professional Tori talks about it all the time I think that this is a culture setting type of player and and I'm willing to bring him back if the contract is reasonable get him over here Get him over here. I do think that he had a good enough year where it's possible. Somebody comes calling for his services and gives him a bigger contract. Yeah. But I also think that Vargy would want to stay in Arizona if all things else were equal. Yeah.

Because I think that he also feels like this is, you know, his family as well. So we'll see. But, you know, I think that the conversation there is like, you know, are you, are you are you giving guys that capitalized on a on a good year, you know, too much credit? and then you're going to overpay for them in the off season. And I, you know, like you have idiots like Killer Rex in the chat who root against players having good seasons on their team. Against his own team. I don't even think he likes this team.

I think he's a fan of a different team because he had a career season. I don't know. I mean, I feel like on the one hand, you can disagree and say, hey, I think that maybe it would be bad value after a career year bringing him back. But I think that you're a complete and utter moron when you start, you know, like taking. shots at a guy for having that career season for your franchise. But yeah, I think, I mean, Vargas should be in strong consideration to be brought back. Absolutely. And I'm sure he is.

Absolutely. But again, he had a great year. And I think a lot of other teams probably see what we see. Good personality, plays every position, had a career year. Maybe they want a piece of that. So there could be competition for his services. But again, I think the Diamondbacks will be given probably first dibs with Vargas. Like, I'm sure he would say.

like they're offering me this, will you guys match it at the end of the day and see what they say? I would agree with that. But we're going to take a quick break on the other side of this break. And we're going to put this out on social. So we want to hear from you guys and what you think about our keep and cut list. So make sure to give us your thoughts on that. But on the other side of this break, we're going to talk about the white socks list playoffs and why the Milwaukee Brewers might actually get the job done here against the Dodgers who are going to. Bitch, Shohei Hotani?

Hold! Oh, I love to hear it. So, all right, don't you guys go anywhere? You're watching the PHA next Diamondback Show. Well, we love Game Time, and the Game Time gives you the constant advantage of constant innovation. That app is always finding new ways to make itself aesthetically pleasing, easier to use, and easier for you to get the best tickets at the best deals. Game Time guarantee means you get 100% authentic tickets on time at the best price, no surprises. and when you are searching for tickets, the fees are included in the price you see.

So when you select those tickets and go to checkout, there will be no surprises at checkout with additional fees and costs. You can also see exactly what your view is going to be from your seat before you purchase those tickets. So there's no surprise with what your eyes will see when you arrive at the ballpark or the arena to watch the venue or the event that you came to see. So make sure to get down on all of this. Game Time also offers the lowest price guarantee your game time will credit you 10010% of the difference. Take the guest work out of buying MLB tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app today. Create an account and use that code of PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.

Terms to apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. It's Game Time, Derek. It is game time, Damon. I forgot to ask you what time it is. It's definitely game time. But it's also time to go get yourself a new hat.

And if you love hats as much as Damon and I love hats, you got to check out branded bills. They have some amazing hats featuring not only U of A and ASU. as part of their campus collection, but they have some incredible hats featuring the state of Arizona. I can't tell you how many of my branded bills hats I own and love because of the fact that they just do an awesome job honoring this great state that we live in. And more importantly,

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Branded Bills has you covered with both performance and with style. They're a local company based right here out of Tempe, Arizona. And of course, always feels good to shop local. Head on over to brandedbills.com and use that code of BBPHNX-15 for 15% off your first order. Well, it is time to discuss the Yoffs, which again is just us as sad Squidward, staring out. They, uh, great at all of the other teams having fun. We're sad that that fun does not include the White Sox any longer,

but we are having a fun time watching the Brewers beat the Dodgers, who the Brewers took a two to nothing lead over the Dodgers, winning their second straight game and putting Los Angeles under serious pressure heading back to L.A. Uh, the Dodgers jumped out early, but Milwaukee answered with timely hitting once again to keep the game close. And again, that's, something that I just forgot what it looks like.

Having those big moments, big hits in those big moments, Damon? Oh, it's great. It's great when the team you're rooting for does the thing. Christian Yelich, who's wearing that C on his chest, delivered a two-run single in the third inning to help the Brewers take control of the game. The Dodgers briefly moved ahead in the fifth,

but William Contreras tied the game with a solo home run, and then Contreras followed that up with an RBI single in the sixth to put the Brewers up for good. The Brewers added a few insurance runs in the 8th and shut down the Dodgers over the final five innings. Their bullpen has dominated the Dodgers. They have no answer for it right now. And of course, William Contrera is the biggest player

and the biggest moment comes through for this team. He finished with three hits and three RBI and delivered essentially helped deliver the win to Milwaukee. But their bullpen was incredible. Their relievers kept the Dodgers off the scoreboard for five consecutive innings and their hitters knock Yamamoto out in two and two-thirds innings putting additional pressure pressure on the Dodgers bullpen which isn't nearly as good. Also I think it was like one of four times that Yamamoto has not lasted three innings or more.

So but the bigger story overall is as people are talking about, Otani struggling. Otani is down bad right now. And you just love to see it. Damon, you just love to see it, especially when it's not impacting Damon's fantasy baseball team anymore negatively, right? You just love to see it. He kind of killed that season as he typically does, Derek. Like that, I think that this guy,

my mistake was trusting that he was going to do me any favors. Right. He hates you. Yeah, exactly. He hates you personally. And honestly, fares because I've said some things that I'm sure, you know, maybe wouldn't make him the biggest fan, but he said, okay, then I'm sitting the final month of the season and I'm screwing over your team. And that's fine. So now I will root against him with all of my might with more fury than you could possibly have even imagined that I can bring to the table. Yeah, but now it's even heightened. I have more reason to. And yeah, he's he's a disaster. He's a bum. He should probably retire. Honestly. Could any team afford to invest as much as they did in Otani and have him not performing in this kind of moment?

Again, it's- And have him not pitching. And have him not pitching. Yeah, it's once again- He makes $700 million to not pitch. It's like he's not, he's a great hitter, but he's what, a top 10 hitter in baseball? Yeah. He's not a better hitter than Aaron Judge.

He's not a better hitter than Yorda-Alvarez. Like there are there are guys that you can list that are clearly better hitters than Otani. And if he's not going to play both ways, then yeah, it is a disaster. contract, but only the Dodgers can get away with it because they're paying him, what, two million dollars and it counts towards 30 on the tax. And then they can just pay Kyle Tucker $700 billion to be bad at baseball. It's fun. It's fun world we live in.

Which, by the way, it's hilarious that I said what I said about Kyle Tucker, and he's like the only guy now performing well consistently for the Dodgers. It's because Kyle Tucker is usually, he's usually a bum in the playoffs. So I think that we almost had the inverse effect this year. Yeah. bumming the regular season, good in the playoffs. Right. Well, meanwhile, on the other side of things,

the Guardian stayed hot and they'd take game one against the raise in shocking fashion. Cleveland stunned Tampa Bay with a late offensive explosion, scoring seven runs over the final four innings to steal the opener on the road. Tampa Bay did take a 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI, on RBI singles from Junior Caminero and Johnny DeLuca. Chase DeLouter, hit a solo home run in the 6 to get Cleveland on the board to make it a two one game. And then Patrick Bailey, Patrick Bailey, once again, tied the game with a solo and run. We talked about this, this damn Patrick Bailey. You knew he was going to be a problem.

He hit a solo run in the seventh. Nathaniel Lowe broke the two-two tie open with a two-run single on the eighth. And then Cleveland added three more runs in the ninth, highlighted there by a two-run double from Joe Adele. So it was some of those pieces that the Guardians added that really helped them take this game, pieces added at the trade deadline. Cedric Mullen's homered for a Tampa Bay in the 8th, but the Rays couldn't mount a comeback. And of course, this was all after Rasmussen left the game. So again, the Rays didn't have their bullpen step up like they normally do. And we talked about this on the show, you know, yesterday.

What was going to kind of win here? The fact that the Guardians were hot or the fact that Tampa Bay was well-rested and ready to go and had their bullpen ready and their starting rotation ready. this is very much similar to the end of the regular season where even when a team comes into the postseason exhausted and beat up and injured and fighting for their lives up until the last game, that getting hot at the right time can really make a difference.

And so far we saw that in game one of this series between the Guardians and Tampa Bay. And again, Tampa Bay is going to always have to question things, like not bringing Rasmussen back out for the seventh inning. And, you know, again, was it a matter of that or was Cleveland just too good? And Cleveland found a way to get hot late.

I would say that, you know, you people that were present would probably have a better idea of that question that I just asked more than me. But I doubt that because according to one Twitter user on social media, this is what your experience could be like watching an ALCS game at Tropicana. Damon, if you wouldn't mind unveiling that beautiful bean footage, let's take a look at what exactly it looks like to sit in the upper section of

Tropicana that was previously just kind of tarped off and for good reason. My God, Damon. My God. One time I sat in obstructed view seats behind the, entrance stage at a WWE raw vet and I think I could still see more than these people could see up in these seats of that particular baseball game that's happening way down there. I mean, it's, I've seen worse views, I guess, if that's what. But yeah, you're pretty high up in the, and there's a guy that goes around and finds the

worst seats at every stadium. I love this man. He finds the worst seat at every single stadium. And yes, they're definitely worse views around. sports than this, but... This is sting up in the rafters right here, Derek. This is definitely sting up in the rafters, Damon. You are not wrong.

But we will be keeping an eye on what the Milwaukee Brewers can do. And if the Tampa Bay Rays can find a way to come back, you know, we definitely, we are in favor of that Milwaukee, Tampa Bay World Series that is going to light the ratings on fire. It's going to, everybody in America is going to be captivated by that World Series. And you know it. But anyway, we're going to take a quick break. On the other side of this break, it's time for us to prepare for the inevitable work stoppage in baseball.

We are going to do so by playing a video game called Lockout Simulator 2027. And we're going to start our journey on the lockout next on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the PHA next time and back show. Well, you might recognize the name Ace, but they have a brand new look and they are still your comfort experts. They are Arizona's comfort experts. an ace cooling, heating, plumbing and electrical is here to help. With over 30 years, excuse me, of serving Arizona homes, they are trusted local experts

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and tell them pH and Accenture. And yes, like I said, we are preparing for the inevitable. I think everybody around MLB is preparing for the inevitable. As we talked about, they have sent out memos about not saying, sending out Christmas cards to players and scrubbing their team websites of all of their player names and images once the lockout happens. But none of this truly prepares you for the lockout in a way like a simulator video game prepares you for the lockout. Right? I mean, it's the way that I, let's be honest, it's the way that most of us think we can run a football team because of how much we play Madden.

It's how much we think that we can all like actually drive race cars on a racetrack after playing games like Grand Turismo. and of course it's why I think it's I definitely can well it's that's true it's true but it's the reason I could go to war my my my per in my personal opinion Damon the my entire existence right now um is is a waste of my talents because I really should be a power washer based on my experience with power wash simulator

which again is that is actually true you'd be a fantastic power washer brother you really would I would have a great time doing it too according to my experiences with that video game. But lockout simulator 2027 for those of you that might not know is a fun, free online video game that you can play and you can try to navigate the waters of a major league baseball work stoppage. It's fun, right? I mean, it would be if it wasn't my reality that's going to happen in two months.

I would think it's cute and adorable. That would love to play it. It's so much fun. Oh, this is so great. ha ha ha ha ha ha. But that's not really how I feel. But overall, lockout simulator 2027 recently got some press. I think perhaps good press since we're talking about it on this episode right now.

Based on the fact that at one point during the season, a player whose name is escaping mirror right now, I forget who actually did it, but a player was in a Lorax costume in a the clubhouse and the people at lockout simulator thought it would be fun to include this lorax uh this image of a lorax in in in in the game and uh dr suses estate kind of reached out and said that's not chill at all that's definitely not chill we're not cool with that yo and uh they had to remove said image but all right we're going to get into it damon if you wouldn't mind we i don't I don't think we need any lockout 2027 music, but I'm sure this video game will have plenty of that. Music would be pretty sweet. Yeah, music would be sweet. I do know that there are music

options when you get into this game and all sorts of customizable options. So let me just get our, uh, our little game time bug over here. And we should be good to get out. You kick this thing off. Basically, what we have to do here is we are going to start, uh, going through this experience together. If you are here in the live chat, feel free to chime in. You can help us with some of these decisions that we have to make and some of these things we have to do. But overall, we have to get the game started. Now, we can continue it. So the good news is that when we inevitably run out of time here, taking a look at it,

we will be able to kind of venture circle back and have some more fun with this on another day. So this isn't just exclusive to today, but we are going to discuss here, a little lockout simulator action, Damon. Oh, let's go. All right. So we have our little, for most of the first. part just agreements we agree to everything yes yes yes we're going to do all of that right so um first you

got to make sure that you are okay it's a free game like i said there's uh not a lot here that you have to worry about uh i guess legally but there's some names and stuff included in here which makes it kind of interesting uh but damon yes let's uh let's get to it so if we could click on these i think the next page starts there yeah starts starts starts the nightmare that is going to be my life in December. So I'm a little bit worried about the sound. Last time we did this, Derek, we had a, we had some issues. Okay. With the e-cam. So if you guys could keep us updated in terms of, if anything goes out of control or I start turning into a robot, let us know. You're kind of, yeah, you're kind of, you're kind of turning into a robot here. All right. But I think the sound is good. And as long as the screen on here is

good, which it looks like it is, that should be the important part here. So do we have to agree to all this? We have to agree to all that. And yes, no, it's not the Apple kind of thing. So we're not signing our life away. But here it is, the tweet that starts it all from Jeff Passon. Major League Baseball has officially implemented a lockout. Sources tell ESPN the 10th work stoppage in the sports history has begun. This is exactly what that day is going to be like, Damon.

All right. Let's tap in to save the season. Let's do it. All characters and events in this game. Even those based on real people are entirely fictional, even though they are real people in this game. game. All right. Let's go. Oh, wow. Oh, this is too positive for a lockout simulator, I feel like. I haven't muted on their end, which is probably a good thing. Yeah, it's probably a good thing.

They got some classic like SNES baseball music playing, but let's get this thing started. We're going to do the retro arcade version there in the middle, just for my own amusement, even though they can't hear the music. And our first media member has to be Damon, Derek Montia. So let's go down to custom. It's custom on the bottom right. And we're going to just throw Derek and Montia and PHNX in there because updates from me have to be part of this game, of course. And we'll just do PHNX there.

And yeah, let's do that. And then make me the oldest guy in the world. Yeah, that's exactly who I was going to. Is that literally Jesse Friedman? That looks like Jesse Friedman. That is genuinely Jesse Friedman, the young gun. Yeah, of course it. Yeah, of course it's Jesse.

So is that who we're rolling? with yeah we'll roll with him and then let's roll with uh what do we got on here oh they just kind of randomly let's do jake over at john boy media up in the top right corner we know him we're friends with him jake story ali let's go all right and this is it this is the tweet from derrick montia at midnight major league baseball shut down i'm going to tweet that on december 2nd 20 it did December 2nd 2026 i'm this exact tweet maybe even with that picture all right let's go let's go to the john boy tweet that's what's next. Or excuse me, Derek, more from Derek.

No deal. The 2027 season is at risk. I mean, Derek, you're, I mean, Oh, man. You're trying to play big Jay. This, look at this beautiful picture. That's crazy. This time it's a lockout,

not a strike. The owner shut the doors. Salary cap is wanted. Players refuse to accept one. All right. How many times do we actually say billionaires versus millionaires on this show, amen? I don't know.

I'm tired of, I'm tired of caping for either. though. They all have more money than me. So I just want to see my team win a championship. We can't even afford coffee anymore. All right, let's go on. Someone has to fix this. That someone could be you.

Wow. It should be you. All right. Choose your commissioner. It's just Rob Manfred. We're not picking fictitious people. All right. Looks like you, Derek. Let's not do that again. All right. Let's go on. All right. Who won the 2026 World Series? Oh my God. Get out of my face.

You know, you know who they want. All right. So who are we doing? Tampa Bay, Milwaukee. Let's do Milwaukee. All right. Does that it? Milwaukee's smart spending gave them October glory,

but the brewer's revenue sharing checks are bigger than their star players' salaries. Wow. Choose your star player. It's got to be Corbyn Carroll, right? Let's do more. More? Yeah, let's do more. Yeah, there we go.

Right there. That's our guy. And lead owner. Mark Wall. Walter. Come on, dog. Let's go. Ken?

Are we going Ken? Are we going Kenny? Yeah, let's find Ken. There is right there. All right. Union leader. Oh, let's do Bruce. God just leave it as Bruce Meyer.

He's the union leader. Really? I want to see who the Moore is, though. Go ahead. I mean, who do we have here as options? I'm fine doing that. Charlie Krasnick? Max Scherzer screaming at people.

Did that say Pablo? Oh, no. No, that was a. Pablo Lopez. Okay. All right. We'll do Bruce Meyer. Yeah.

Super agent, Scott. It's got to be Scott. Who even are the hell of the rest of those people? I don't know. They're going to can Rob Manfred. Let's go. And they're giving Derek Montia the scoop? Yeah, Derek.

Well, Derek's well connected. Yeah. Jake's not right. We are all walking into the biggest crisis we've seen in 30 years. Commissioner Manfred is on the podium. What does he have to say? the cameras are live the world is watching what do you got to say all right what are we picking here i'm not here to pick sides let's get no bull crap he's totally here to pick sides we will reach a deal

setting a 90 day timeline speaking to the fans this game belongs to you i won't let you down that is definitely not something he would say uh and then before i make any promises i need to hear from both sides i think i mean i don't know let me be clear is what we would actually hear from right let's let's rip the aggressive let's do it we got to set the tone yeah We want a deal. Oh, only 7% of players. Custom was the most popular. Wow.

People are writing their own messages. Yeah, no, we're playing by the context of the game here. The room goes silent. The owner's smile. The players union exchanges glances. Oh, no. We've made a terrible mistake. I mean, what are we going to do?

We're going to play. We're playing. We're obviously on the owner's side. No one's, you know, not thinking that's not the case. The commissioner of baseball works for the owners. He's putting the place by the owners. So here is how the game is played. If any meter reaches zero, we risk an immediate walkout or a fatal collapse of the game itself.

Baseball will no longer be played. Oh, man. This is good stuff. Props to these people for creating this. All right. I mean, we only went up 2% with our comments. Yeah, but we minused 11% from the players. It's a disaster.

I mean, screw you guys. You guys don't want to hear baseball is going to be played in 90 days within a three month window. Yeah, no, we're going to get this player. I'm actually, you know what? I'm fully against them at this point. This is what happens. This is how the animosity builds, Damon. It's the lack of willingness to to negotiate here.

Wow. Oh, here's Ken. Look at that picture of Ken. Look at Ken from 20 years ago. Commissioner Manfred, remember our discussion. Wink. In public, we prefer to be called the clubs. Wink, not the owners.

Wink. This game eats weak commissioners alive. Oh, Scott Boris is not our enemy either. He's just here to make sure nobody leaves money on the table. Sure. Especially my clients. They're not threatening going on. I don't love this.

But when we do, it apparently we're the bad guys. Yeah, we're the bad guys. We're the bad guys. We're the bad guys. All right, Damon. You know what? let's see the next morning a tweet from corbin carol is going viral corbin carol says quick question for man rob man fed football has survived 150 years of history

hopefully it survives this BS hashtag baseball math david corbin is so mad at us he's so mad at us Oh, my God. How do we respond? I don't know. Ignore it. I mean, I feel like that's, that's beneath us. Yeah, we're not ignoring it. Oh, I was thinking that like we're the commissioner who, what kind of commissioner is getting

into Twitter battles like he's Damon dog? I was going to say, but all the other things are, that's what the other things are requiring us to do is to get into a spat publicly on social media. I think we have no, no choice but to ignore it. Don't we, do we not? Yeah, I'm going to ignore it. Ignore it. Ignore it.

interesting play oh all right custom reply is a popular choice here's what changed public i mean the public it loses a interest with us we lost some credit with the public i mean what do you want us to do get in twitter beefs as the commissioner of baseball we have bigger things to be worried about all right well damon i think we need to take a pause here and pick this back up tomorrow how do i save it um just if you go ahead and cancel out of it the next time we come back to the website, it'll give us the option. If I just quit here,

or what do I press save game like right there? Yeah, do save game. Yeah, there we go. Just go ahead and save that game. Yeah, let's save that game. And then we'll get back to this tomorrow because again, uh,

this is too much fun. And I could probably spend just the entire hour doing that. But we also have other things we know. That might just be what we do all off season. Yeah, that might literally be tomorrow's entire show. I'm going on vacation on Thursday anyway. So, I mean,

I'm going to phone it in tomorrow, regardless, that might be the great way to do so. But we're going to take a quick break on the other side of this break. We're not going to phone it in because me and Damon are going to argue about whether or not you have to give a ball to a small child when you catch it at a baseball game. Don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PHA next time and back show. Well, we've seen it.

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6072 Bronco stock number 265754 and f150 stock number 269 548 expires October 31st 2026 all right well and also you also know the moment when you've lost your sunglasses it's a terrible moment and it's one we all hate the moment you immediately know you left your sunglasses sitting somewhere and you don't know where that somewhere is but of course if you ever experience this moment and it makes you not want to buy sunglasses You got to check out Shady Ray's because they are eyewear that has your back long after you make your purchase. Even if you lose or break your Shady Rays on day one after receiving them, they will get you out a new pair. No questions asked.

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So join us on Saturday, October 24th at Salt River Fields for the Out of Darkness Walk. Doors open at 8 a.m. The walk begins at 9 a.m. All donations are 100% tax deductible and benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. And there's a link to join our team, which we ask you to do regardless. Even if you can't come out, even if you can't donate, please just come on over, join our team. We would appreciate the support, as would, of course, so many affected by this. So, Damon, I kind of venture now into from being, you know, kind of sweet about this or at least talking about something that has impacted me and impacted so many people to now being a villain

when it comes to our next discussion topic and being as heartless as I possibly can be. Because now there is this thing going around social media after, during a Braves, Dodgers playoff game, where a Dodgers fan who we rightfully want. to be against them. We rightfully want to boo them. Caught a foul ball and then was, I don't know, it was kind of put on him to give it to a small child that was a Braves fan sitting a few rows back from him. And I just found this entire discussion to be a bit fascinating about the idea of catching a foul ball as a grown adult and being required to give it. to a small child.

Now, Damon very much emphatically told me when we discussed this before the show, it's a no-brainer. You give it to the small child. 100% of the time, there's only one situation

where you don't, right, Damon? When it's a valuable home run ball. Kind of, yeah. I would even say a home run ball in general. I think if it goes over the fence, you catch. The idea that that ball scored a run and you caught it,

like that's really hard. It's cool. And I won't, I'm not going to like kill anybody for not giving that ball away. I think that that's a, that's a cool moment. You might want to hold on to that. But yeah, if it's a meaningless foul ball or it's the third out of an inning and the first baseman makes the put out with the catch and then he tosses it into the crowd and you just so happen to be a grown ass adult man that catches that ball and you don't

turn around and look for the closest kid next to you. I think there are some issues that need to be talked about in that circumstance. Here's what I will say. I am not opposed to what you're saying. In fact, I end up with a lot of baseballs covering this team just randomly. And I... Yeah, because you go to Tuesday games where no one's there. And the ball hits the concourse and there's Derek.

I've even sat out before fans come in in the left field bleachers just for fun because the guys are taking batting practice and they're hitting balls over there i don't even pick them up i just let them like land near me and stuff it's just kind of funny to be sitting over there while they're you know hitting bombs in that direction right but yes i i tend to try to be a purveyor of this as often as possible in fact i will just steal the batting practice balls regardless of if i'm allowed to and give them to children that don't have a baseball that are at the uh the batting practice section where they're viewing batting practice right so that they could maybe get an autograph on you know a baseball or something like that, right? But I will also say, I don't want to be obligated to do anything.

If I catch a fly ball, which is hard to do at any time, whether it's foul or a home run, I kind of want to keep it. I caught it. I was here at this game. I was sitting in this seat. However, I think of a ball that you bring home, and this is my biggest thing. The amount of times I brought something home as like a memento from a show or something that I went to, when I get home, the decision of what to do with it, right? I'm an old man who has clutter everywhere. Do I really need to bring home a foul ball that I caught at a baseball game? In five years, am I going to even remember that? Now, if it's the first foul ball you've ever caught, if it's your first baseball game as an adult and you end up with a ball or something, I'm not going to fault you for doing that.

And I think that was what happened in this viral video that was going around. This was this guy, first, like, foul ball that he caught. And yet here he was being, you know, basically pressured by the crowd around him at Dodgers Stadium, or I think it was at Dodger Stadium to give the ball to a small child who also happened to be an Atlanta Braves fan. That, that factors in as well. If it's a small child who's a fan of the same team I'm a fan of, then now we're talking. It's like the kid, the baby in the cart with the horns down.

I'm supposed to give that kid a freaking the ball. I hate is, I hate him. He's not part of my group. He's the opposition. He's the ops. But yeah, no, I mean, overall, I think that, yes, giving a ball to a child is probably something that all adults should concede on. You throw it up to yourself a couple times in the air, Derek, and you look at this, you feel

the seams on it and you go, yeah, all right, well, that was pretty much everything that I was ever going to do with that baseball. That's true. But then you're also going to give it to a small child who's never going to remember at all ever receiving it. But it's a great guy move. It's for the parents. You're doing it for the parents.

Here's one for you, cool, bro. You know, since you like to take dates to the game, it's a must. It's a must if you're bringing a lady. Oh, 100%. If you have a companion next to you, I don't care if it's, you know, it could be the, you know, Barry Bonds is 760 second home run or 63rd home run to break the record. You got to just nonchalant gimmick that thing and be like, you want, you want that bad boy, champ?

Give away millions of dollars just to seem kind of cool to a girl. Yeah. Yeah, you're not wrong. I've done, I've done dumber, I suppose. But anyway, risking my own life, yes, but giving away a ball worth millions of dollars, absolutely not. Well, we thank you guys so much again for joining us. We'll be back tomorrow with more lockout simulator 2027 and more Diamondbacks chat. Make sure to join us for that. Until then, you can follow us on social media. I'm at cap underscore caveman with a K. Damon is a Damon dog with a D-A-W-G. And as always, we are all Damon's dogs.

So bark, bark. Our shows at PHNX underscore D-BACs, but all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. And again, we thank you guys so much for stopping by. We'll be back here with another 12 p.m. show tomorrow, so make sure to join us for that. And in the meantime, hope you all have a wonderful rest

of your Tuesday. I actually had to look at my computer to ensure that it was Tuesday. That's how fast things go for me around here. But again, thank you guys so much for your time. We appreciate you sharing some of your most valuable commodity with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Until then, have a wonderful evening.

And remember kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you can play a video game that at least makes the inevitable work stoppage a little bit more hilarious.