PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Why Edwin Díaz to Dodgers SPELLS DISASTER for D-backs and MLB

Episode Date: December 9, 2025

Reports are swirling that the Dodgers are set to make a massive splash by signing former Mets closer Edwin Díaz to a three-year deal, and we break down why this move could be disastrous for both the Diamondbacks and the balance of power in MLB. We also dive into Kyle Schwarber’s return to the Phillies, Mike Hazen’s comments shutting down Ketel Marte trade rumors, and what it all means for Arizona’s offseason. Plus, excitement is building for the 2026 World Baseball Classic after Geraldo Perdomo confirmed he’ll suit up for the Dominican Republic, setting up a potential dream showdown with Corbin Carroll and Team USA in the WBC Final. JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsportsMERCH 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/Aura Frames: Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/PHNX. Promo Code PHNXALLCITY — 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/APS:  Find instant rebates, discounts and special offers on smart thermostats, energy-efficient appliances and more at https://marketplace.aps.com/default/heating-cooling/smart-thermostatsBranded Bills: Use code BBPHNX 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=allcityShowNotesChicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!Visit https://www.macu.com/accounts/checking/mystyle-checking?cid=ea-PHNX-AZ-mystyleAugust2025-checking to learn more about their MyStyle Checking Accounts!bet365: https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485317 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ.  If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/Gametime: 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 35% 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!Monarch: Use Monarch to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnxWhen 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.

I'm supposed to believe that the Dodgers aren't breaking baseball. Come on. Well, no skis for you today. No skis for MLD. No skis for anybody. We are the PHNXDBACs podcast, and we are still live from Studio K, presented by our friends at Circle K. But we are not happy. Dodgers once again broke baseball.

My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as your mayor of PHNX. And we are going to break down this Edwin Diaz situation. Why it's not just bad for the feedbacks, but it's bad for all of Major League Baseball. I am not alone. Of course, I'm never alone. I got my guy, Damon Dogg, the one, the only, the leche to my cafe cone on the ones and twos today.

And you know he is especially unhinged today. But more than anything, I think we're feeling a little defeated, right? I think we're feeling defeated. And, I mean, we'll get. to that here shortly, but this show is brought to you by our friends at Game Time, and thankfully, they are still here to help us save money, unlike the Dodgers that are trying to spend all the money. But you can go download the GameTime app right now, create an account and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase on those already low last-minute ticket deals. Terms do apply.

Yes, the news is true. The information coming out this morning after a fairly uneventful day one of the winter meetings yesterday is that the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are a bunch of goddamn liars, have landed Edwin Diaz. We knew they were going to. We knew that the only teams that could afford Edwin Diaz after he opted out of his contract with the New York Mets had to be either him going back to the Mets on a new deal or him coming over to the Los Angeles Dodgers. And that is the case.

There are reports that the Dodgers now have the best closer in Major League Baseball, at least that was available on the free agent market, reaching a three-year $69 million deal. And no, it's not nice. I know I want to say nice to that. I'm not saying nice this time because I'm not happy. $33 million per season is this annual value here. That's practically what the Diamondbacks had to spend this entire off season.

Right? I mean, the estimates are maybe 40 million, right? so just seven million shy of what the Diamondbacks had to spend on their entire needs. This was a team that needed nothing. This is a team that has won two consecutive World Series championships. This is a team that got their manager just yesterday said he was fine with running it back. Now today the Dodgers have acquired Edwin Diaz. And the other talk is that they're apparently trying to trade for Terek Skubal.

It's crazy. Ryan's right the Dodgers figured out how to trigger the unlimited money glitch We need somebody to To To deal with this They definitely are OPE and they need to be Powered down what they've done Derek is they've they've turned off Money on MLB the show franchise mode

They've literally gone into the settings Right They've selected money off right And and then now they're having fun playing the game Like how I did when I was six years old. Except the difference being here is that MLB the show franchise mode actually has more financial constraints than the Dodgers do in real life.

MLB the show would be like, you know what? Even with the money off, no, we're not letting this deal out. They'd be like, you have 56 million to spend this off season. And in reality, the Dodgers have unlimited money to spend every off season. The deal is, uh, it sets an annual. average annual value record for a relief pitcher that Edwin Diaz had already set with the New York Mets. We were all shocked about that. And what's wild is, is what did we talk about when it came to Dodgers breaking baseball?

We said it wasn't the Shohei Otani deal that sent people, meaning people in baseball over the edge. It wasn't the acquisition of Yoshinobu Yamamoto. It wasn't the addition of Roki Sasaki. It was the Tanner Scott edition last off season. And guess what? That didn't work out for them. Yet somehow all of their other signings did, right? They finally had one that really didn't work out for them in Tanner Scott.

And who's to say it won't? Tanner Scott might rebound and be fine. And then their bullpen is amazing now with the addition of Edwin Diaz. Their bullpen is the best in baseball. Their lineup is the best in baseball. Their starting rotation is the best in baseball. It's moments like today, Derek, where it's really hard not to curse on this podcast. I told you before we started, I needed to say the F word at least 17 times just to get it out of my system.

For it was inevitable that I would say it on this show cursing about the dollars. Vintage Derek and Damon would be just letting F-bom's Fly right now. Vintage Derek would be drunk and shirtless right now. And this chair would gone through the glass of that door because that's how I feel. And Elizabeth is right. Zabe is not wrong. I think it is time for Damon and I to record a D-Backs after this exact subject.

I'm with it. I was also going to say I will curse four super chats on today's show. If you want me to say the F-bomb, send in super chats and I will deal with the repercussions later. Let's go. well, we need to say them because this is doom and gloom, yes, this is a disaster for the Diamondbacks in 2026. How, I mean, how as an organization do you not just wrap it up? Call it a season already. How do you as Mike Hazen not just start packing your bag in your room and start heading back to Arizona?

Why would Ken Kendrick, our uncle Ken, who has been so benevolent the last two off-season, giving us all of this money to spend on these free agents that didn't work out for us, why would Ken Kendrick open up his wallet anymore? It feels like a fool's errand. It feels like there's no reason to compete because the Dodgers winning another world series title next year already seems inevitable. And I don't really feel like I'm being dramatic,

even though I know I am dramatic. I feel like this is a very fair thing to say. competitive balance in baseball is dead. What the Dodgers have just doomed us to is not only another year under their reign in 26, most likely, under that evil reign of the Dodgers at top Major League Baseball, they have 100% ensured that we will be locked out in 2027. Plain and simple. The Edwin Diaz signing, if the Tanner Scott signing is what essentially pushed,

the majority of the ownership in Major League Baseball to feel like they are willing to lose millions of dollars in order to correct this and make it more fair than this Edwin Diaz to the Dodgers deal, it will 100% push this entire thing far over the edge. And I just don't understand it. I really don't. I feel like the Dodgers are doing this in a way where they like, and this is a way. is fine, right? Like, historically in sports, there have been dominant franchises that had, you know, had a dynasty. And that's what the Dodgers are ensuring that they have here is a dynasty. But what fun is this for Major League Baseball? What fun is the outlook for baseball fans that aren't Dodgers fans in 2026 going forward because of this and the 20207 lockout?

Also, if they do fix anything in baseball in 2027 with the new CBA, it's going to take time to take effect so much to BC's delight in our chat. Yes, the Dodgers are probably going to win four or five championships and kill off the popularity of baseball effectively. The one thing that they've determined is that repeat champions is the thing that really does cause people to lose interest in the sport. It does give everybody a big bad, right? Like, you are for sure now, either a Dodgers fan or not,

There's a, I feel like there's a hard line where you can't waddle in the middle like I did at one time when I used to say, oh man, it's hard to hate these guys. Not anymore. It's easy to hate them now. It's so easy to hate them. I'd argue it always has been. You would definitely argue that it always has been. But now more so than ever, right? And when I say hateable, you know what I meant, right? Well, what's hateable is people like BC who is a nice guy who comes in here and is cheering this on and celebrating it when, I'm. I mean, As you say, Derek, it's going to hurt the popularity of the sport. It's going to cause a lockout in 2027. This is not good news for the overall health of baseball. So while I understand you're going to be happy your team is winning and you're signing all the best players every off season, I just like to me, I don't understand how this could be something that you would be celebrating. I don't see how it could be something that's fun.

I don't understand how in general this isn't viewed as something that's ruining baseball. But when you are, you got to understand it from a Dodgers fan perspective, right? This is great. This is great. And it's especially great after everybody did the Mickey Mouse ring thing to them. Right? I mean, that almost feels like that's why they want to put their throat on the rest of Major League Baseball or more than anything, is the fact that we mock them for the first championship that they won since the late 80s.

And they came roaring back in a way that no franchise can really come. compete with. Not to mention the fact that, you know, again, it's, B.C. is trying to say that's not how it works, like as if this isn't going to be something that ruins baseball. They talks about how other teams were championships and that they all got better ratings because of those years. And I would say that's definitely not the case. But, you know, again, what this more is about is that when those sports and those teams created franchises that were dynasties, they were done under, you could argue, far more fair rules when it came to payrolls and such in those sports than in this one. You don't have to argue it, Derek.

It's just a fact, right? Those sports all have hard caps where you can't go over the certain allotted amount of money or else you're paying so heavily into the tax that it will debilitate your future. spending that you can do, whereas the Dodgers, they get a tax, but they just say, cool, we'll pay it. No big deal. Doesn't bother us any. And then they do it all again the next year. Yeah. But Michael Dixon is definitely right in the chat. He says, this is not a Dodgers problem. And it's not, it's an MLB problem. And Dodgers are just doing what they are allowed to do. And that's ultimately the truth at the end of the day. Absolutely. I mean, like the Dodgers have

the ability to do this and they're trying to do their best to win, which is what every team should be doing, correct? But it doesn't mean that I think that their fans celebrating it and throwing it in people's faces isn't despicable behavior. Well, it's, I mean, whatever, those fans can do whatever they want. They can choose to be that. And again, this is like, if you, if you're a fan of that team, I don't blame you at all for, for applauding this and having your team get better. I think, honestly, this is, a lot of this is out of jealousy because of the fact that we don't have that, especially here in Arizona. I don't want to be them, though, Derek.

I want an equal, fair sport where you win based off the merit of how good your organization is. That's what I want MLB to be. And the Dodgers are a great organization. They have an unreal farm system. They make fantastic decisions in their front office. They still would be a good franchise, but it needs to be an equal playing field. It needs to be an equal playing field.

or else the sport will die in the process. Unless your entire goal, and we've talked about this a million times, is to just have people in Japan watch this sport, is to just have people in Mexico watch the sport. Because if you're willing to punt on your American audience, that's fine. But you literally need parity and you need small market teams to have an opportunity to win. Right. Because the debacks are a miracle in MLB sense based off of what happened in 2023.

A lack of popularity with the, you know, smaller market teams just leads to more of this, which is already the problem with baseball. And again, yes, the Dodgers aren't the problem. They're just, I guess, an example of the problem. And I will definitely concede that the pirates and, you know, the Marlins and other teams, the race, they're as much a part of the problem as the teams that spend a lot of money, right? But at least, at least the pirates pretended like they were in on getting Schwabber, right? Like at least they pretended that. They did make an offer. However, in other free agent news,

Kyle Schwerber is staying in Philadelphia, according to a source. MLB.com had an article this morning that Schwerber and the Phillies have agreed to a five-year $150 million contract. The team has not confirmed the move, obviously, Damon. But I don't know. There's a part of me that feels better

about Schwerber staying with the Phillies and not being added to like a Mets team that's doing the same thing as the Dodgers, you know, but overall, again, it's, it's, it, it, it, it, it still feels like this is, uh, a ton of money for Kyle Schwarber and, uh, doesn't matter. Doesn't matter for the Phillies. Yeah. And they needed them. And, and, and, you know, if you have the money for it, why wouldn't you pay that amount of money for, for, you know, the second best EH in the league, one of the best pure hitters in baseball? I wish that I, Derek, all it's going to make me think today on a day like today is I wish my team who clearly needs a DH clearly needs a power influx could compete for a signing like that. I wish it was even possible. Yeah. But it's not. Well, 100% right.

But. And here's another, here's another fact, Derek. If the Dodgers didn't have Otani, they would have been right there at the front of the Kyle Schwerp line because they would have been like, oh, this is one of the top three DHSs in the sport. Cool. Yeah, we want them. Yeah. We need a DH. Cool. Yeah. We'll get this guy. Well, I'll tell. you, I mean, like I said, the Toronto Blue Jays aren't far off from being that as well, because you're seeing every big free agent tied to the Toronto Blue Jays as well. This is giving me another thing that I'm going to just hate you for, Derek. I know, I know, I get it. The Blue Jays are nowhere close to the Dodgers. They are. No, don't know. They want to spend. I agree, but they don't, they're

not deferring a 70 million APY contract for $2 million per year. So until they do that, they are not the Dodgers. No one is. The Otani contract is the craziest thing in sports right now. And what's crazy is like I think Jack said it the other day, there's still a decent portion of that that they're getting hit with on their payroll. It's like 46 million. But it's still nothing compared to what he's actually getting paid, right? Like it's still a, you know, a portion of it. So I don't know, whatever it is. I mean, it just feels like, again, that's why the reason why I'm up the Toronto Blue Jays is like it just feels like these teams have no choice but to do that. If you want to compete, you have to go out and spend.

And as Michael Dixon said earlier, it's Major League Baseball's problem. This is a Major League Baseball problem. It's not the Dodgers problem. And the Dodgers had a need. They felt they needed to address. So instead of going out there like any normal team and just getting a good, you know, closer or good reliever, they got the best. And they paid him an ungodly amount of money, more money.

then most teams can even afford to pay a starting pitcher. They paid that to a reliever. Sick. Yeah. And yeah. This is fine. We're all having fun. And Kyle Tucker is visiting the Blue Jays facility in Florida.

And they're looking at other people too. So good for the Blue Jays, man. That's the type of like, like I think Ernesto said it up in the chat. A big problem with baseball is not only that the Dodgers spend like they do, but it's also that a lot of the other bigger market franchises don't really spend at that level. The Cubs, the Ricketts family. They're just, ah, whatever. We have all the money in the world.

We're in Chicago. We have the second biggest fan base, third biggest fan base in the entire sport, and we'll let Kyle Tucker walk out the door. It's crazy. It is crazy. And shout out the Blue Jays for at least attempting to try to get to that level of winning.

You know what I mean? I can respect that. Well, and again, I can't condemn the Dodgers and praise the Blue Jays because they're both trying to do the same thing. And again, the Dodgers, really, when it comes down to it, that's what the Mets and other teams are trying to do. The Mets, the Dodgers, these teams are spending.

They're spending and they don't care. They're active in the market. They're attached. Like when you look through trade rumors, they are not trade rumors, but you look through like potential free agents and who's interested in them. You just see the Blue Jays time and time again. You see the Mets time and time again, right? So again, these are teams that are just,

they've given up on the idea of the fairness of base. and they're just trying to compete with the Dodgers. Again, the deferred contracts thing, all of that, as much as it's an absolute way to circumvent the process put in place to keep baseball competitive, everybody's just going to circumvent it that can afford to circumvent it, right? I mean, and we'll never really know how much these teams make. We have these, you know, we have, we have these estimates.

We've seen how much teams reinvest of their income. come back into the team, the percentages and stuff, but we still have no firm numbers on how much these owners are making off of owning these teams. And we probably never will. So until that transparency exists, we'll never truly know how much teams are losing or gaining on being owners of these franchises. I was talking to it today. Espo's thought is we just need new ownership here in Arizona. That's it, is that we need new ownership. But I would counter. that what business person that would buy a team in order to, yes, run it and like be in, want to be in sports and want to be a part of baseball, but also be making money off of it as a business,

what business owner is going to get involved with the Diamondbacks if they have to spend all of this much, this money, but not be making anywhere close to that in return. Jerry Colangelo was always right about this city. The city loves a winner. And if you make this team a winner, people will come out. support it. But that's a very, that's, that's not a guarantee at any point, no matter how much you spend on a team that they're going to be a winner. So, and you, you just don't know how people are going to support this team. If you throw just more money at it, if it doesn't work, then

yeah, just so, yeah, exactly. They're kind of a guarantee. You do it and then it's the failure, like the Mets were last year, then you just throw more money at it. So yeah, and then you go in the off season and you try to improve the, improve the roster. Here's the, here's the main difference. I think, you know, you look at the Dodge, I look at the Mets and I look at the Blue Jays and, you know, obviously, like, they're trying to spend a ton of money as well. Armani Village or Villalago here puts in the chat that the Blue Jays will have a higher, I believe, active payroll is with a cherry-picked stat. To be precise, active payroll, they will be higher once Kyle Tucker signs, depending on what his deferrals look like. But again, that doesn't factor in what the Dodgers are doing to circumvent the active payroll.

My main issue, Derek, and I know you said that fans are going to be fans, and I get it. I don't blame the Dodgers for doing this. I blame their fans for clapping like seals at the destruction of this sport and not being smart enough to realize that this helps the ultimate goal of MLB existing and being and thriving. is this helps none of it. And so that's my, that's my bigger issue. I get the Dodgers are going to try to win.

I get they're going to do what they can do within the confines of the sport. And what Rob Manfred allows them to do and what the, the other MLB owners, owners allow them to do as of now. But ultimately, I do think it's going to cause us to be doing like sandlot watch along podcasts for an entire, you know, six months probably because this is going to,

this is going to piss a lot of people off. I'm going to tell you this, and we'll move on after this, but one thing you said earlier was about how well the organization has ran. Historically, we have seen plenty of teams and plenty of sports try to put together an all-star team, and that collapsed on them. It did not work out. Egos were too big. Coaching wasn't good enough.

Whatever the case may be. I mean, the Phoenix Suns from last year versus this year are a prime example of the difference that star power can make without good coaching and without a team coming together. Meanwhile, this year, this son's team, far more fun to watch. Last year's team hated watching. This year's son's team plays like a team and is, you know, again, that kind of underdog mentality here where they put the right guys in place, even though these guys weren't big names, big stars, and somehow it's working out, right?

Most of the time in sports, when you put together a team, the way that the Dodgers have put together a team, it doesn't. work out. It just requires far more of a team aspect to it, yet they found the right guys. Even though those guys cost a ton of money, they spent the money on the right guys and they assembled a team that's a winner and faced adversity, kind of went down in playoff series. There still was able to come back and win their second world series. It's all gross to me. And I hate this. But what I will say is, again, that, you know, the assembly of an all-star team for a franchise, typically does not work in the way that it has for the Dodgers.

And the reason why it has is because of the decisions they made and because of their front office being as good as it is. And that front office is the same front office that deferred payments and figured out a way to legally move around the competitive balance tax situation to a point where they still exceeded it more than any other team and paid more to any other team or than any other team did in competitive balance taxes. If you want to look at a bright side to this Edwin-Diaz situation, at least the Diamondbacks are going to get some more money from the Dodgers

because that money comes down to these teams. No, that's not, I don't want to look at that. But gross, I hate it. And, of course, the Dodgers make it just hard to even be optimistic about the 2026 season. Like we have like a decent, you know, spine of a roster. Yeah. In a regular sport, and basically any other sport, you'd look at Catelle Marte, Corbyn Carroll, Geraldo Verdomo,

maybe the best non-Dodgers trio of position players of any team in the entire league. And you'd say, man, this is a team that we could build something around. Right. And meanwhile, we're sitting here and we're like, well, we could maybe pay five positions, what the Dodgers just paid Edwin Diaz alone. we have to compete with the back-to-back champs who continue to only add All-Star after All-Star. And not only that, there's two other good teams in the division as well. So it's pretty doomsday over here.

Is the NOS like the hardest division in all of sports? That's what Tori said. Is that just like a me in my own world because this is, it affects me personally situation or like what's a more difficult division? I think, yes. I think it's more because it affects us. because it's more of a one-sided thing with the Dodgers being so good. Yes, the rest of the division is very good, but you feel like you can compete with the Giants and the Padres.

You feel like you have a chance against those teams. You feel like there could be a shot for the Diamondbacks to come in second in the NL. You just don't feel like they could ever come in first. I'll rephrase it because I agree with you. I think that we could probably go across the sports and find a division that is top to bottom has a better competitive nature. Exactly.

Like the NFC East, for example. I think that this year is going to be the first year in like 20 years that the team won it two years in a row that the Eagles are about to win it two years in a row. It'll be the first time in like forever. They're frauds. The NFC North has been really good recently, right?

But like, I don't know if there's a worse division to be in than the NLS. Any division that the Dodgers are in. Because not only, I mean, you have the highest spending team, the team that is the best team, and that wins it, you know, every year for a decade straight. But you also have the Padres really trying to compete. You have the giants who have won multiple World Series in this century. Like, it's a, it is hell on earth to be in this

division. Benjamin said it best. He said the Dodgers are the Globetrotters and the rest of us are the Washington generals. It does feel that way a little bit. Hey, and look, I see people, I know there's going to be plenty of Dodgers fans, not only here in the live chat, but after this show is over dunking on us in the comments. And I will say that those comments make me completely agree with Damon that you guys are the problem. But it also makes me realize that once again, it's just weird to win two world series and then still, I don't know, need to be taking victory laps on a team like us. So leave us alone. Leave us and stop harassing us. Stop, get out of here, BC. We're tired of your harassment. But we're going to take a quick break. On the other side of this

break, Damon, we have more bad news, or maybe it's good news. I don't know. It depends on how you look at it. But Mike Hazen made it very clear that the Cotelmarté trade rumors are exactly that. Just rumors. We're going to talk about it on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the PHNX Diamondback show. Of course, it's never ordinary at Bet365. Now is a great time to get down as a new user on Bet365 if you haven't done so already. New users can get themselves some bonus bets. and of course now is still the best time of the year to bet on football. There are so many options, so many props over there at Bet365 for you to get down on, including their same game parlay Sundays.

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Well, you guys, we have some news here from the winter meetings and not the news that we already discussed that we hate, but yesterday Mike Hazen was interviewed by our guy, Mike Farron, at the winter meetings. And Mike had some interesting comments in regards to the Cotel Marte trade rumors. We know in the past, as we discussed, I think a week ago, that Hazen has kind of already shut down the rumors. And it still didn't stop the rumors from getting hotter. Hazen had said that they were taking calls.

That turned into the debacks shopping Catel Marte around, according to reports. And things have kind of just been all over the place. So as far as Mike Hazen is concerned, I think he kind of addressed those rumors and set the record straight as to this not being any different than any other offseason when it comes to teams calling about Catel Marte. here's what Mike had to say. I have received incoming a ton of conversations on him every single year since he's become a superstar. Do you think that the story last year

about him with his teammates impacted that that people were more alert to this idea going into the winter? Who knows? It's hard for me to even understand what it is. What do I think? I think he's a superstar player. He's on a good deal relative to the industry. I think that makes him very attractive to a lot of teams that think that they can just go get this guy

and that we're in this position. We're 500 team and we have a lot of whatever they think we are where we're at financially. And I think that spurs some of the calls. I do. And when I don't just shut down talks on day one with any of these guys, I think maybe that becomes the narrative. What I hear out there is about teams that are interested in teams that we've talked to. There's reports out there of teams we've talked to that we have not even talked to. So I don't even know how to when I start to refute that stuff, then I'm engaging in the conversation.

you know so it's it's it's a you guys know this it's a very tricky game to play i'm not trying to hide the ball or play games i just say he has always been our most asked about player yeah every single off season first of all the teams he's talking about that he didn't have discussions with has to be the pirates and the rays right it has to be the pirates and the raise those two teams still didn't make any sense to us when they were reported as teams that checked in on kattel marty but as you can see here again. I don't think Mike is trying to lie about

this. Like as he said there, I don't think he's trying to play a game. He also went on to say according to another interview that he's going to have to sit down with Catell after all of this is said and done and explain a lot of what happened, right? I'm sure that there might be some

bad feelings on Cattell's side in his camp in regards to these rumors. And again, it's like when his name keeps coming up as often as it has during these, you know, winter meetings and this offseason in general, it's hard not to feel like you are, you know, like you are the being shopped around, like you are somebody that your team no longer wants, right? So it's not a great situation. And when all of a sudden done, I think it's right that Mike needs to, you know, kind of discuss this

with, with Cattell and kind of reiterate that the team really wasn't shopping. dropping him around in the way that it was portrayed. I mean, according to those, to Bob Nightingale's article yesterday, he had said that the team was, you know, kind of fed up with him, right? Time to cut ties, I believe is what he said. And it just doesn't seem right. It doesn't feel like it's something that the Diamondbacks can afford to do. The biggest selling point about a trade for Cotel Marte is how team friendly his contract is.

doesn't a team like the Diamondbacks need a guy that's an MVP candidate on a team friendly contract for a while? Don't we need somebody that sticks around here? I feel like the rumors are almost a further indictment of the problems that we're talking about with baseball. Like Mike said, there are 500 baseball teams, so blood's in the water and they're willing to trade Ketel for some prospects. Like, no, absolutely not. And you can get your bogus trade proposals out of my men's. mentions on social media because I am sick of seeing them. Every team in baseball right now thinks that they can send over like three or four prospects

to the Diamondbacks and they'll get Cotel Marte the way you would get a player at the trade deadline on an expiring contract. You fools. And so again, this is one area where Killer X and I completely agree, even though we probably don't agree on the source because he blames a completely other person. And I just blame this on all of us. I even blame it on us. Look at me here.

Still talking about Cotel Marte. This was going to be like our third week in a row that we had a Cotel Marte headline that it talked about Mike Hazen turning down or, you know, discussing the trade rumors or trying to turn them down, right? Like it does feel like a lot of people are actively trying to run Cotel Marte out of town. It actively feels like what happened over the 2025 season was kind of. you know, a mole hill that was made into a mountain, right? And tried to be made into a much bigger deal than what it was. So I don't know, but I won't lie.

When I see certain things on social media now, I panic, right? I was the other day, we'll talk about it here in a little bit. Cotel Marte had a wonderful video of him smashing dingers at Lone Depot Park with a metal bat and hitting the roof at the stadium. And I'm not supposed to get fired up by that. I'm supposed to not want my guy back. I'm supposed to not want Cotel Marte on this team when I'm watching him smash dingers and hit him off the roof. Right.

But more importantly, he posted just this innocent picture on his Instagram story yesterday. And I panicked. I was like, I am ready to overthink this. What does this mean? It could just be a picture of Cattel. He could be a reference to maybe Perdomo and his announcement. It could be a reference to a lot of. of things. But when I saw this from Catele-Marte, this looks like a man that just found out he was

traded and is shocked. He's doing the Cobra, the Surrender Cobra. I didn't love it. I didn't love it. So now here we are in a position to overthink every single picture and every single post from Cotel Marte, Damon. I mean, it was cryptic. It was cryptic. It was cryptic. It was cryptic. No description, no words, no nothing. What is that? Yeah. No, he's trying to mess with us there and with baseball fans everywhere that know that we care about what he has to say in a situation like that. My guess is that he's just kind of, you know, playing into it. I, yeah. I mean, hey, look, I love it.

I love it when people play into it, Damon. I love when they hear the rumors and do the thing. In fact, there was another Instagram post. This one did not freak me out. This one delighted me. And I thought it was a great dunk. This was Zach Gowan on his Instagram post with his, with his lovely wife and the caption reads,

the only contract signed this weekend. Marriage. Happiness. Look at this. That's a way. That's a way to dunk on rumors right there. I like that. Sick ring.

Studded out diamonds on Zach Allen's ring. Congrats to Zigi and EG. You guys are amazing. And again, they got engaged around this exact time last year, November of last year. So if that, I didn't do my research, but if this in fact means Zach Gallin is now a married man, mazzletoff to you, sir. But again, that's a post that made me feel better.

One thing that does not make me feel better, Damon, is the pitching market being at a standstill. Now that Edwin Diaz has signed, again, this run on closers and elite relievers continues. I'm sure we'll see Zach Gallen. Some Zach Gallen news come out soon, it feels like. feels like, you know, again, that that signing is eminent. And again, if it is for that dollar value that we needed to be, the Diamondbacks will get that compensatory pick back from whatever team signs him. But, you know, again, the starting pitching market kind of at a standstill.

A lot of guys, you know, Dylan Sees was considered one of the top guys available on the market. But now outside of that, there is not a lot of pitchers that are moving, right? So you have a lot of, you have a lot of, I don't know, C level talent once you get down past Zach Gallen and Merrill Kelly, I think that's the problem for us when you take a look at who is available on the free agent market. It is also a reason why it feels like there's a good chance of Diamondbacks could make some sort of trade for that other starting pitcher that they need. Available right now is guys like Framber Valdez who is far out of the Diamondbacks

range. We discussed Ranger Suarez, but we believe even he is out of the Diamondbacks range as far as dollar amount. And then again, you have a few other names we've discussed. Nick Martinez, Chris Bassett, Michael King. All guys that are highly coveted and guys that will probably receive decent contracts. Maybe Chris Bassett, probably being the older guy there, probably won't get a long-term deal. But again, he'll most likely come back to the Blue Jays. If not, we'll receive a decent amount of money to pitch for somewhere else,

most likely on, you know, a shorter-term deal, but still on an annual value that might be too much for the Diamondbacks to consider. I liked Chris Bassett as the second choice there because of his kind of, you know, what he did for the Blue Jays out of the bullpen, and, you know, perhaps he could do that for the Diamondbacks later in the season when Corbyn Burns returns. But when you start looking at the list of available free agents and you start getting below, Zach Gallin and Merrill Kelly, the pickings are slim, guys. The pickings are slim. And we've talked about a lot of the potential options, but none of them are great. None of them are going to be that starting pitcher that makes you feel like the Diamondbacks can now compete with this Dodgers team that just

did what it did in acquiring Edwin Diaz. So I don't know. It really does feel that Merrill Kelly at 37 years old on a two-year deal might be the Diamondbacks best option and might be the best available free agent pitcher that they can afford right on the market. So those will continue to see Merrill probably discussed as an option for this team, quite frankly, Zach Gallen also right there as another, you know, option, but it still feels like Zach will get more than, you know, the Diamondbacks are willing to pay. So we definitely, I don't know. It feels like Merrill Kelly, if the Diamondbacks are able to acquire Merrill Kelly, if they're able to bring on also like a Pete Fairbanks, then it feels like a win. But we've talked about so many of these guys. And like I said, after that, there's not a lot of guys you want us talking about.

out on this starting pitcher list. At least not a lot of names that's going to excite the fan base. I still think, you know, a guy like Lucas Gialito might be an option for this team. And should they do that, he might be a surprising option for the number. Like if we bring in a guy like that, that's like the ace that they're bringing in this off season, no? At this point? Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, basically. God, that feels bad. Yeah, it's not good. It should feel bad. It should feel bad. I remember when we had Merrill Kelly and Zach Gowlin locked up and we were talking about bringing in Lucas Gialito as like the fourth starter. Now we're talking about bringing in Lucas Gialito as the gosh darn ace, Derek.

Yeah. Yeah, I don't. What happened to this franchise? What happened to the franchise I loved? Genuinely. Again, I don't know. I think Merrill is definitely coming back. I commend.

I commend Mike Hazel. on having to continue to do his job after this news comes out that the Dodgers just got better. So, you know, I think that's probably the part that's, I don't know, it makes me feel the most depressed. And yes, I'm very depressed about this. So if there's any Dodgers fans here that want to know how I feel sad and bad, those are the two ways I would describe how I feel.

But what's more depressing is no matter what, you have to see about, you know, what you're going to do. Or you can't feel excited about any moves this team makes. You have to see what the Diamondbacks are going to do. But yay, they add Merrill Kelly. Do you feel like we're competitive? I mean, that's the thing that I think this move really makes it feel bleak, makes the future feel bleak, is that I know we weren't going to compete with the Dodgers for the division already.

I was not ignorant enough to believe that. but now it just feels like what's the important, what's the point of the entire 2026 season? Let's just give it to them now. You know what I mean? So anyway, I'm going to try to suck it up and have a more positive attitude here. But we're going to take a quick break.

On the other side of this break, we're going to talk about far more positive things. And that is Geraldo Perdomo participating in the World Baseball Classic as a member of the Dominican Republic team. And we're going to talk a little bit about how he might end up facing off against Corbyn Carroll in the finals. awkward that's going to be. So we're going to do that on the other side of this break. Don't you go anywhere. You're watching the PHA next time in that show. If you're an Arizona sports fan, there's no

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with ShadyRays to bring you an exclusive offer. Head to ShadyRays.com and use our code of PHNX for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the Shades rated five stars by over 300,000 people. Well, we got some news yesterday, according to an interview that our guy, Geraldo Perdomo, made or did, he announced that he will, in fact, be playing for the Dominican Republic in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. And damn, and I'm pumped. I'm fired up.

I will say that it makes me a little nervous. We talked about this when Corbyn Carroll joined Team USA, that, you know, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't. don't love the idea just based on it obviously increasing the odds the likelihood that something bad could happen to Corby and Carol and that's probably the only reason not to love this news but I just Derek we just think in such different ways I know I'm well all you can think about is I'm negative Nancy as killer X said I'm being negative Nancy all you think about is is how the debacks are going to stink next year and how you know and obviously I I hate the Dodgers too but also like how the sports ruined and how like you don't think the sports ruined perdomo and

and corbin carol bad things are going to happen because they're playing representing their countries and representing this organization this fan base at the highest level of the game derrick yeah be excited get fired up no no it's the reason why teams didn't use to let their players play on these kind of things right like i'm investing money in you i don't want you to go do this but i'm really glad that teams are because the world baseball classic is really shaping up to be something exciting and harold opredomo being on the dominican republic team is is exciting corbin carroll being on team u s a is exciting and it's not just that right we have these other announcements today that team usa added one kyle schwarber to their lineup they also added will smith gunner henderson and

bryce tarang so good luck rest of the world you got an outfield of corbin carroll pca aaron judge Infield, Gunner Henderson at third, Bobby Witt Jr. at shortstop, Bryce Terrang at second. You got Paul Skeens on the mound. You have Will Smith catching. You have Cal Rally catching. And then you have Kyle Schwarber as a DH. I love this. I'm pumped for this.

And you know what this means, Damon? This means that we could, in fact, see Geraldo Perdomo's Dominican Republic team face off in the finals against Corbyn Carroll's team USA. I think that's the only time that these teams could actually face off. off against each other based on the pools that they're in. But should that happen? Electric. So, uh, yes. I mean, listen, Derek, we already have, and when I say we, you know, stick with me here for a second.

Sure. We already have Juan Soto, Fernando Tautiz, Mani Machado, uh, Ellie de la Cruz and Geraldo perdomo set up on our, on our, our, uh, roster on our roster. On our roster. So you might be feeling good about where you guys are at. And I say, you guys.

When I say Team USA versus your team. When I say you guys, I mean you guys. Yeah, I get it. I get it. I get it. You're just holding us. This is really weird because one of us is from the Caribbean and one of us is very much from mainland United States.

Yet we've switched. One of us has an every right to actually root for Puerto Rico in this, in this tournament. And I am I am pigeonholing you as the team USA guy I get it whatever take it whatever you can have it because us over here in the DR we're feeling real good about our roster real good well you know who else we just added a damn winner to this team I mean you're not wrong you're not wrong but you know what else is feeling this roster is the manager of the roster when Mark DeRosa he is definitely feeling this roster and he is feeling Corbyn Carroll being a part of this roster. Our guys from the DNVR podcast

got us this little interview footage from the winner meetings today. Here's what Mark Rosa had to say about Corbyn Carroll possibly being the best player on Team USA. Mike was very adamant about young energy mixed in with some of the veteran superstars at a game. And I'm in complete agreement with him and I think he is the definition of that. Like young, energy, like tools down. It's his time. He's deserving of it. I mean, he's one of those guys that if he gets rolling,

he could end up being the best player that we have on the roster. So he was super excited when I called him. His goal was to get to the World Series and to make this roster. So he said he had two goals coming into this season and obviously didn't make it to the World Series, but he's going to get an opportunity around. in an outfield that's two big guys. And I expect him to play well.

What's that? Well, he marked Rose. It wasn't the only person at the winter meetings that had some nice things to say about Corby and Carroll. Killer X's favorite person, Tori Lavallo, is here with his thoughts on Carol being a part of Team USA. Here's what Tori had to say. I love the D. Rose going back out of one more time.

He's a perfect man for that group. And for us to turn Corbyn over to him, for a period of time, we're lucky that he's going to be in good hands. Corbyn made us aware. He kept us up to date. Myself and Mike through text about what his intentions were and what he was thinking about doing. And when he finally made the decision, he was really excited about it. And the fact that he can represent his country really excites us.

So we feel that way about all of our players that are going to be potentially playing the WBC. I think there's names. I'm sure you guys have seen those names. But it's official that Corbyn's going to be, representing Team USA and I'm so proud of him and I know that he's really excited about it. I think he did that through his amateur career where he's playing 18 U, 16 U,

one of the best of the best and that's just continued. So he's a really good player. He's very deserving of it and I know he's excited to go out there and help the team win a gold medal. He looks well rested, doesn't he? He does look well rested actually. He looks well rested. He does look well rested. I mean, excited to help this team win a gold medal.

Is he unaware that Geraldo for no much got added to the DR roster? I don't know. Your pitching is not strong, though, so I don't know about your team, but we'll see what gets added. We'll see who gets added still. You've never seen defense like that in your life. No, you definitely haven't. Well, they're going to need it.

But here's the thing. Oraldus Chapman, he threw his hat in to play in the World Baseball Classic Damon, but not for who you might think. It wasn't for Team USA. It wasn't even for another team that you might think he'd play for. It was for Great Britain. Eraldus Chapman wants to play for Great Britain. And apparently some people did their due diligence without actually hearing from Chapman as to why he would want to play for Great Britain and try to look into his family lineage to see where it intersects with the UK.

And apparently, it doesn't. His grandfather was from Jamaica, which was technically a British colony or Commonwealth. and that's the reason why he wants to play for Great Britain. I say let him play for Great Britain, right? Like there's no danger there of that team being any good anyway, right? They can't even keep the letters on their jerseys. And that's no disrespect to the fine folks from the England, UK area. A piece of Yoshi asks that counts.

I don't know. I guess so. I don't know the rules here. I don't know. But there you go. Roll this Chapman. Britain. Britain. But in other news, we did get a brief mention the other day that in the Venezuelan, I believe it's the Venezuelan Winter League for the Carnalis, that the Gabrielle Moreno apparently

was playing first base in a game. And I know someone in the chat earlier wanted us to overreact to Jordan Lawler's 170 batting average in the Dominican Winter League. So I figure why not overreact a little bit to the news that Gabby Morano is playing first base. Right? I don't know. It's, it is what it is, but I'm sure it doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

A man won a gold glove, a gold glove at a catcher, but... I'm more concerned about him being in the Venezuelan Winter League. Be safe, my guy. Weren't you just, were you just criticizing me?

Or are you just criticizing Venezuela as an unsafe place, David? Are you aware? of what's going on in Venezuela? I know, I know. I know. Trust me. I'm worried about my sweet baby Gabby. Honestly, yeah. And don't close the damn borders because we need a catcher. Yeah, get them back here.

That's what I'm saying. Get them back here. A sap. A sap. But I did want to tell you guys, of course, that we have some new hats available in our merch shop. If you haven't had a chance to check them out, they're pretty gorgeous. I won't lie.

I love this Phoenix one that I'm rocking right now. But there are three new branded bills designs featuring their new canvas model and you can visit store.allcity network.com or go to go phtonx.com, click on the merch tab, find the latest merch for your favorite sports network here in Arizona. The Phoenix Sun's hat is fire. So if you haven't had a chance to check it out, make sure to go right now. Quantities are limited. So act now before supplies run out. And I think if you get that order in soon, I might be able to get that before the holidays come around. But before we get out of here, we just wanted to address one, Jake Lamb is back with the order.

I was going to bring this up, I believe about two weeks ago, because our guy Archie Bradley had tweeted out, or not tweeted out, but posted a sweet video on Instagram, congratulating Jake Lamb on his retirement from MLB. I'm still waiting. I think Archie has made that official, but I don't know if he has. And I think Archie in his mind is always, I think Archie thinks he's always ready to play baseball. So Archie might not like set up man mentality. Archie may never retire from the game. Oh, you want me, coach? I guarantee you wherever he is right now, he has cleats and a glove with him.

Yeah. Just with him. Just in case. Just in case. I feel like he, every D-backs game he goes to, he just, like, he throws it in the back of his car just in case Tori, like, calls him out. Calls him out. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, first our guy, Steve Gilbert, Jake Lamb, will be rejoining the Diamondbacks and becoming a part of the player development staff. So that's really cool. He will mainly work with position players in the organization. and also spend some time with major leaguers. So it sounds like he'll be working with some of the minor league talent in Reno and perhaps other cities as well as the talent here. So really cool. I mean, Jake Lamb, he takes me back to some good times.

Jake Lamb was one of those players. Jake McCarthy actually reminds me quite a bit of Jake Lamb, and it's not just because both of their names are Jake, although I'm sure that is a factor. I just think it's kind of the same thing where Jake Lamb was an all. star one season. I mean, we thought the world of Jake Lamb and it just felt like things hampered his career and kept him from really ever achieving his full potential, at least on a long-term, consistent basis. And again, I feel like I think the same way of Jake McCarthy, right? Like,

Jake McCarthy is one of those guys that he's had some very good stretches and you almost are waiting to see him put it together and start delivering consistent results at the plate in the field. Yet, you know, we're not really seeing that. And in fact, It's like as time goes on, you're almost seeing him kind of regress and get a little worse at both defense and at the plate. It's not to say that adjustments can't be made for him to turn things around. But again, it's the reason why just kind of reminiscent of Jake Lamb there a bit. But Lamb, always a great guy, always a great attitude person to be around. So again, it's going to be a big help to this organization.

I do love how the Diamondbacks have these guys that have meant so much to this, to this organization, to this franchise, to the fans, come back and stick around as part of the team. We saw Miguel Montero last year hanging around, helping coach, helping do things. He also is helping recruit Merrill Kelly at a son's game. Meanwhile, you know, again, you have Jake Lamb now coming back here to the organization. So they definitely really, really cool to see, you know, guys like this returning and helping this team and the young guys develop. So appreciate you guys so much. Chevy just showed up.

Chevy K-572 said on my break, where's the beer from Levine, Arizona? I don't know where to get the beer in Levine, Arizona, but I assure you that if we could get it there, ASAP, we would buy one on us. Buy one on Damon. Damon's Logan's Logan's logo. But again, we're just trying to get over a very bad day around here. And again, for those that are here to take further victory laps, keep circling, because, again, at this point. We're ready to already punt on 2026, maybe 2027, and then I don't know.

Maybe I'll get my act together by 2028, be a little bit more positive. But I am sad for now. I am depressed. I am defeated. And I hope this Diamondbacks organization can make a move that helps me and most of you feel better. Cool bro wants to know who is the masked man. And this is a wrestling reference.

So I want it to be Montez Ford, but I think it's Austin Theory. that's all I got for you I know that's boring I know that's all the rumors but Montes would be great alright well for the rest of you we appreciate you guys so much for stopping by except Killer X

we thank you guys for your time except Killer X we will see you guys tomorrow with another 12 p.m. show until then you can follow us on Twitter I'm at Cap underscore Kman with a K Damon is at Damon dog with a D-A-W-G at the end

and as always we're all Damon's dogs bark bark our show is at PHNX underscore D-Backs but as always all roads lead to at PHNX underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We love you guys. We thank you so much for your time. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

Until then, have yourselves a wonderful evening. Behave yourselves, cool, bro, and remember kids. Baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you're a Dodgers fan.