PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Why MLB’s Future Depends on a SALARY FLOOR More Than SALARY CAP in Next CBA

Episode Date: November 6, 2025

JOIN THE SUPPORTERS CLUB ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/yc6km2r4We’ve discussed how teams like the Dodgers outspending everyone is killing competitive balance in MLB, but could the bigger culprit actually be the teams that aren’t spending enough? We look into the implementation of a Salary Floor instead of a Salary Cap for MLB and explore how teams spending more instead of spending less could fix the problem. We also look into the start of free agency tomorrow and Mike Hazen’s comments about improving the D-backs through the trade market.An 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/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/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=allcityShowNotesCrown Royal: Visit crownroyal.com/PurpleBagProject to learn more!Chicken N’ Pickle: Family friendly fun awaits! Visit chickennpickle.com to plan your visit today!Access Auto Insurance Agency of Arizona, LLC (Access Auto) is a renowned agency offering personal and commercial auto insurance options to Arizona residents. If you’re on the hunt for a new policy, call Access Auto today at 1-480-400-0546 or get a free insurance quote by visiting our website www.access-insurance.com.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.

While we still hate the Dodgers and think they broke baseball, we are going to talk about today if perhaps a salary floor is more to blame for the lack of competitive balance in baseball than a salary cap. Plus, Mike Hayeson made some comments about trading away, potentially some young players to get value back, and we are going to speculate on what he could mean by that and who they might be trading. We're doing that in 30 seconds. Don't you go anywhere?

Happy Thursday to you all. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNX Diamondbacks podcast, Slide from Studio K, presented by our friends at Circle K. It is I, your mayor of P. HNX, occasionally known as Derek Montia. Thrilled to have you guys here and thrilled to be joined once again by the one, the only Damon Dog on the ones and twos. And please do not tell him anything about his aforementioned birthday present that we discussed on yesterday's show.

Secrets. Welcome in to you guys, of course, as this show is brought to you by our friends of time, make sure to download that app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms do apply and make sure you buy yourself some last minute tickets over there for sure. But the free agent frenzy begins today. We are going to start to see moves made potentially as early as 5 p.m. Eastern today, which is just around the corner.

So it'll be interesting to see how fast the free agent market starts popping off with those free agents being able to sign with new teams today as a 5 p.m. Eastern standard time. Now, we have not received word confirming this, but the debacks do also have until 5 p.m. Eastern today to submit a qualifying offer to Zach Gallen, and that would be valued at $22.025 million for one season. Everybody expects Gallen to turn that down. However, MLB.com and Mark Fein said put out an article about looming free agents, the top 30 free agents available this offseason and where he believes those free agents are going to land. And he did say that the Diamondbacks are one of the teams that could land Zach Gallen. He had the debacks as one of the three teams.

Now, will that happen? I don't know. I think that there is still a decent chance with some of the opt-in situations that we've seen with other starting pitchers around baseball that Gallin might opt into that $22 million deal. That might absolutely be the reason, or that might be the best value that he could get at least for 2026, allowing him to have a rebound season and then come out in 2027, and perhaps once all of that labor dispute stuff is settled, get the contract that he's been seeking.

But Gallen does have until November 18th to accept or reject that qualifying offer. And we expect, again, the Diamondbacks to make that qualifying offer by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today. and for Zach Gallen most likely to reject it, but I still feel like maybe it's a 60-40 right now in favor of him rejecting it, but still a decent percentage chance that he could come back on that qualifying offer.

And we got a super chat already from Emily Williams calling me out saying that Derek hasn't worked on the jersey list, and she's right. I can't. I can't lie. Facts. She got me. Almost in the cup, Damon.

Almost in the cup. He's mad about the hat. I'm throwing tomatoes at that dare. Yeah, he's thrown tomatoes. Sorry, Emily. That's my bad for sure. In the cup would have been insane. Insane.

Splashing water upon me. That would have been crazy. I mean, that's the ultimate beer pong shot. Oh, it would have been amazing. And we would have had it on film. We would have had it on film. But again, those free agents, the qualifying offer to Zach Gallum by 5 p.m.

Eastern Standard Time needs to be made. Free agents can start signing with new teams after that. So, of course, we here at the PHNX Diamondback Show are going to cover some of those free agents that we hope to see the Diamondbacks sign. Today, we're taking a look at two relievers, one who is more of a long shot dream signing and one who is far more realistic. And quite frankly, could be right in the Diamondbacks price range as far as signing a reliever who, quite frankly, could still be considered elite despite having a downseason in 2025. But first we're going to look at the very coveted reliever of our hearts, the one that Damon and I, when we look at the free agents in baseball, want more than anybody else. And for multiple reasons, mostly because, once again, it would help weaken San Diego Padres team that made a very questionable managerial signing today that we'll talk about on tomorrow's show for sure. But we have to get around to sealing one Robert Suarez away from the San Diego Padres.

Suarez, while still being an elite reliever, and he did lead Major League Baseball with 40 saves, or not baseball, he led National League last year with 40 saves. I still have my hesitations about signing a Padres reliever that led the league in saves in the previous year, and I think you all understand why, Mark. But in 2025, Robert Suarez was elite. He was one of the best relievers in the National League. He had a 2.97 ERA, a 2.88 FIP, and a 0.904 whip. And it gets even better in his career. In his career, he has a 2.91 ERA. And Damon, 21 home runs allowed in his career.

In 210 innings pitched, he has allowed 21 home runs over four seasons. Wow. It's wild how good he is, how consistent he is. Let's take a look there at those numbers from 2025. Sorry. You're right. You're right. Hashtag, I apologize.

Hashtag, we're driving all over the place. Robert Suarez did convert 40 out of 45 save opportunities in 2025. Like I said, he led the National League. He had that 2.97 ERA, 0.904 whip. He had an opponent batting average there of 189 and a B-war baseball reference war of 2.3. His fastball velocity is elite. He has touched 101.1.3 miles per hour on his four-seeing fastball. He has an elite pitch mix.

There he kind of uses a change-up to really enhance that fastball. But much like Ryan Nelson, he's primarily a fastball pitcher. his career usage, or at least his pitch mix in 2025, had him using that fastball around 75% of the time. So he also mixes in a sinker, and like I said, that change up. But he just has an incredible fastball and, again, just a very consistent whiff rate. His contact whiff rate for his four-seem fastball is 28.9% in 2025. and in 2025, also opposing batters had a barrel rate of 8% and a hard hit rate of 43.8%. He is one of the best relievers available on the market, and it makes it very hard to imagine

the Diamondbacks being able to sign him. Based on what Spot Track predicts, he has an annual value predicted at $16.8 million, and they're predicting or projecting a four-year 67.3. $3 million deal, which would be very, very high for a reliever. However, you know, as we've seen across baseball, as we've seen with the Edwin-Diaz situation, he's opting out from that deal that he has with the Mets. I mean, this actually doesn't look too terrible. It does involve putting a lot of money that the Diamondbacks, you know, already have to kind of budget towards one single reliever. And in the case of the Diamondbacks, let's just say, sign

signing Zach Gallen or having Zach Gallen come back on that contract and accept that qualifying offer, 16.8 million and 20, 22 million is going to put you at the budget. That's it. The Diamondbacks literally are able to pick up two free agents this off season. Should Gallen accept the qualifying offer or should they sign another starting pitcher with an average annual value of around $22 million? This is the situation they're going to be in should they go after an elite reliever like Robert Suarez. Now, I gave you all of his stats, and I think they all speak for themselves on why you would. There's no doubt. There's no doubt that this completely would change the bullpen for the Diamondbacks and completely change, I guess, how people looked at this team as far as being a

competitive team in 2026. However, it's going to cost them, and it's going to cost them money that they most likely don't have. There could be ways to creatively structure a contract like this, especially a four-year deal. They could just give him more money essentially in 2027 and 2028, 2029, instead of having it be an equal amount throughout the four years. But again, it's going to potentially cost the Diamondbacks a lot to get a relief arm that's as good as Suarez. Why should they do that? Well, their bullpen has sucked. And we saw how Paul Seewald, who really wasn't even that great of a reliever, he had experience. He knew how to get outs, but his stuff wasn't.

not electric, not in the way that Suarez is with his 101.3 mile per hour fastball. But, you know, again, it brought stability because it was a closer, a closer that was capable of doing the job and came in and really let all the other guys in the bullpen kind of understand what their roles would be going forward. So I think that's why going out, getting a closer that is an established closer that the other pitchers in the bullpen understand coming in what his role is going to be there's not going to be any any doubts about it there's not going to be any you know competition for who's going to be in that role you're going to know from the time they sign them who that you know what that role is going to be who that person is coming in

to be and that's why i think robert sweris is uh would would be the one of the few guys that's going to cost you that much as far as a bullpen arm that's worth it and i think that again the diamondbacks bullpen their relief situation has been a nightmare in the entire existence of this team, right? Ever since Randy Johnson came in in that 2001 World Series and clinched it for us, we've been cursed. So getting a guy like this really feels like it would turn things around. However, like I said, it's going to cost you a lot of money.

On the flip side, there's a far more realistic name that's out there available as a free agent that not only would not require a multi-year deal, but wouldn't cost the diamondbacks nearly as much, but you could say is still an elite reliever despite having a down. season in 2025 and that picture is devon williams uh in 2025 his career numbers were down that he was well off his peak form he had a 4.79 era and a 1.13 whip look here at his stats with the new york yankees i mean this was a big signing for the yankees in general uh and he he did not really live up to the expectations there the yankees also went out and i believe got themselves like four other closers so uh that situation definitely got confusing

for a lot of those guys. And as you can see, Devin Williams did not get very many opportunities in that closing role. Though he did convert 18 out of 22. He did have a 4.79 ERA, and that's going to be key because that high ERA could be the exact thing that allows him to be affordable for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The opponent batting average, not terrible at all, 197. He did have a minus 0.3 B-war in 2025. And again, that whip was 1.129. and Katie May says we need to stop scraping the bottom of the bargain bin and swing for the fences. I think the only problem with that Katie is once again the difference in cost, and I know that it feels like that at times with what the diamondbacks are doing,

but Mike Hazen is going to have to kind of get, I mean, be at his best as far as being a GM is concerned, he's going to have to kind of try to find a guy like Devin Williams that had a down season that you can buy on the rebound. And again, given his dip in 2025, a team could view him as a by-low scenario. He's got all the tools that you want in a closer. And, you know, again, he's had recent success, just not with the Yankees. You feel like maybe with a return to a smaller team where the demands aren't so high by that franchise just in general, and he can just kind of come in, know what his job is going to be,

and know that he's not going to be replaced by another guy immediately, then maybe he can return to that elite form. The bigger thing here is because of the risk, I think it would be acceptable for Devin Williams and for a team to agree to yet another one-year deal. Or at least an incentive-laden contract where if he can hit like 30 saves, 35 saves in a season, then he can make more money.

I always love those deals. I think those are the best for everybody because it gives the player something to shoot for. It still gives them some stability by having a base contract that's reasonable, not out of the question. But again, if a guy comes out like Devin Williams and returns to the form that he was with the brewers, then you feel like he's worth every dime of that money. 100%.

You know, SpotTrack is predicting him at 5.7 million annually. Ooh, wow. I mean, sign me up for 5.7 million annually. I don't think that it's going to be anywhere close to that. I was looking at some projections earlier before the show. And it was pretty similar to the Robert Suarez projections, actually. Like 15 million? Around 15 million.

Well, and I imagine that would be more on a one-year-old. deal though still like sure maybe two maybe two but i think a team is really ready to commit long term to devon williams considering the yeah totally i i first off i want to say i do agree a team like the diamond back specifically on the incentive driven side of things i think that's a perfect fit for the debacks organization right because we're kind of in a spot right now where we can't afford the little salary that we can dish out we can't afford for those players to be misses correct we're not the Dodgers where Sasaki could be in the rotation and then suck and then, you know, it's no big deal because we have $1.3 billion invested into the rest of our rotation.

Right. So because of that, we have to hit on these signings. So I do think that the incentive-driven thing could be smart for Mike Hazen if they can get players to agree to that. That's the big if there. But in regards to Devin Williams, Derek, I want you to do me a favor real quick. Look up Devin Williams's baseball savant page for a second. Oh, it's hot.

It's pretty good. It's hot, David. It's about the same as Robert Swarise is. That's why I say, like, I think that. Maybe he got a little unlucky. The opponent batting average there was kind of part of that because Robert Suarez, an opponent batting average of 189, right? You have, again, Devin Williams, 197, not that far off as far as opposing opponent

batting average, right? We're talking about, like, less than, less than a very small percentage here, right? But what we're overall looking at here is that the results were much different. And a big part is that Devin Williams was giving up the home runs, whereas that is something that Robert Suarez just doesn't do. Interestingly enough, his worst ERA though, Suarez is this season was at Chasefield. He had the highest ERA Chase Field than anybody else. What was that? It was like 22.5 was his ERA Chase.

He only played two games, though. So it's a very small sample size, but apparently the D-backs lit them up. and I find that hilarious because just glancing at that made me go, maybe we don't want to pay that much money for him to be bad at Chase Field. But again, it's part of what Mike Hazen is going to have to do. And again, if you can convince someone like Devin Williams to agree to a base salary that makes, again, more sense, right? Like more along the lines of $8, 9 million. And then, you know, incentives could drive it as high as $15 million.

well quite frankly he deserves that money at the end of the season if he's that good for the diamondbacks if you can set goals for him to reach but overall i again that's that's the way that they have to shop unfortunately katie and i i know uh she says i definitely hear that but still feeling very much like a bargain bin scraping Damon, could you scroll back a little bit because her comment just went away. It was at the top. Scraping and wishing he'll turn to gold rather than just buying a little bit of gold. The problem is, is that, again, there's a lot of things that they need to fix. And as we've seen so far in the past, buying that little bit of gold or even a lot of gold, unfortunately, came back to bite them for different reasons, right? Jordan Montgomery just wasn't himself anymore and then he gets injured. Corbin Burns took a little while to get going. Once he got going, we got very excited about how he looked, and then he got injured, right?

So just from a perspective, even though there's no reason in the world for you to think that if you went out and got another high-end pitching arm that it would turn this way, it's hard not to, I think, feel that way for this front office and for the ownership group. I mean, they wanted to go out and add to this team at the right time, and they did, and you can't blame ownership for not opening the checkbook and paying. for the players that they thought would make this team elite and compete once again in 2024 and 2025. But just for unfortunate reasons, it didn't work out.

And like Damon said, we're just not the kind of franchise that can bounce back from a catastrophic loss like spending $35 million a year on Corbyn Burns and then having him miss more than half the season due to injury and now essentially miss an entire year due to injury. Right. So it sucks. and it's the reason why most likely Mike Hazen will have to go with a reliever more like Devin Williams and less like Robert Suarez. It still doesn't mean, though, that they couldn't bring in a guy whose stats from 2025 don't look great and have them turn things around. And especially in the case of Williams, you know, return to their former form.

But another option, Derek, is, and we talked about him a little bit as well before the show is Ryan Halsley, who has been phenomenal. The last three seasons, has an ERA sub two. and then got to the Mets this year and had a seven plus ERA on a team that was reeling. And it's like maybe you could get a bit of a discount there because he's been an elite level relief pitcher. And just like has a, I'm sure people have a bad taste in their mouth from, you know, him being a bigger reason why the Mets didn't make playoffs last year. Right. So maybe a Devin Williams or Ryan Halsley is the type that the Diamondbacks could try to buy low on, get a good value on. and maybe, you know, they could almost transform the bullpen in a way because having guys like that,

like we don't have anybody like that, not named AJ Puck and Justin Martinez, and those guys are not available. But then you just start thinking of how that bullpen could look. Oh. If they do have a Ryan Helsley or Devin Williams and those two guys come back and you just start feeling very differently about what this team could do to turn things around in the second half. That's special. And here you yelled at me before the show today because Damon is fed up with this talk. that 2026 is going to be a loss that we're already chalking it up to be an abysmal season. There's no reason to think that Mike Hazen can't go out there and improve this team in several

ways, especially with the market having a lot of guys that had a down year, you know, especially, you know, like Zach Gallen's a perfect case of that. We saw Zach Galen become Galen again before the end of the season. That still wasn't enough for him to turn his ERA around a lot. He did get it below five, but Gallin ZRA still looks just as bad as Devin Williams. And yet from watching him, you wouldn't say that Zach Gallen was as bad as his numbers indicate, especially, you know, in the second half. But that's not what teams go on.

Teams have to go on the statistics. They have to go on predictive statistics. They have to go on ex-Woba and XBA and all of that crap, just from them, you know, just so that they can try to see what the real story is, whether a guy just got lucky one season or they're, adverse to that, had a bad luck, right? But, I mean, Derek, last time I, I'll just tell everybody what I told you before the show. Go.

Last time I checked, we still have Corbyn Carroll, Catell Marte, and Geraldo Perdomo on this team. Now, if anybody else wants to give up on a team that has those three players, you go ahead and you tell them to their faces that we're giving up on you before the season even starts. But I don't think Mike Hazen has the balls to do that. I don't think he'll, I don't think he'll look them in the eyes and tell them that day. I think he's going to go out there and spend, and I think he's going to try to put a winning team around these guys because why wouldn't you? You have three damn near MVP candidates.

Not even damn near. They are MVP candidates. How could you punt on primers of those three players and expect your fan base to buy in with you? It won't happen. I do think that Diamondbacks are not going to be like Corbin-Berns level aggressive like they were last year or Jordan Montgomery when we least expected it. Right.

But I think the Diamondbacks are. are going to be more aggressive than maybe we've even given a little bit of credit for on this show in the offseason. Because I just think that there's so many roles to fill. Even if it has to come down to trades, Mike Hazen is going to make trades if he has to. And we have more on that, of course. And I think we might just punt on that to tomorrow a little bit here. But Mike Hazen did make some comments to Steve Gilbert in a new article over there at MLB, saying that he was open to dealing some of the top of the – from dealing the top of the organization.

organizations prospects list if the return is right. And that is something, again, that we know the Diamondbacks are going to have to do. However, what prospects get dealt and who has value, right? What could this mean, Derek? What could this mean? I think it means that trades are going to happen, Damon. I think that's what it means. He wants, you know, us to know that. And names were named, but just in speculation, right, Jordan Lawler, Ryan Walshman, they were both named as potential candidates in this article. But yeah, we're going to talk more about that and we're going to look at who the Diamondbacks could potentially get in a trade should they go in that direction. But of course, that's for tomorrow. We're going to talk about that tomorrow. We're also going to take a look at

free agency moves that might have happened. I think Stu asked in the chat, sorry to make you go back this far, Damon, but I think Stu asked, can teams start signing players at any time or is it more likely they wait until the winter meetings. That's a great question. There's meetings in Las Vegas that are the general manager meetings that take place before the winter meetings. And yeah, then there's the winter meetings. Teams can sign players at any time. Like once 5 p.m. Eastern Standard time today comes and goes. Teams can teams are free to start signing players and players are free to start signing with teams. Now, in some cases, deals, decisions might, kind of already be done. Like players might have had informal conversations with, you know,

people within the organization. They know an offer is coming. They might be very apt to signing with a team that they kind of already know has interest in them. So that's something that happens. I don't know how legal or illegal that is to say, but I feel like that is something that is very common, commonplace here when it comes to free agency. Derek, are you saying that Munateka Murakami is already a Los Angeles Dodger before even being posted. Is that what you're trying to tell me right now? Because I'm pretty sure you're looking me in the eyes

and you're telling me that I'm going to look over here again. Munataka Murakami is a Los Angeles Dodger. Already signed as a Dodger? Yeah. I mean, someone investigate this problem at MLB. Right. Please. Right.

And like Michael Dixon said here, yes, they just don't typically sign until January and February. And the reason for that is, and even February is a little late, but the reason why is because players want to see what the market, where the market goes, how the market is dictated, right? So baseball free agency is so stupid. We talk about this every year, Derek, where it's like,

especially for people that do jobs like me and Derek, where we feed off of like the narrative and like the hype around transactions. And it's like NBA and NFL, they go, actually our window is now open. And the second it opens, people are flying off the board left and right. It's a, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, mannaz. Everyone's having the most fun ever.

The Sun's podcast is doing like thousands of pause on, on, on, on all their Vod content. And then Derek and I just sit here and we go, oh, M.OB free agency is open. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. Like, there's a part of me that's, I wonder when we'll sign a guy. Oh, we have to do these episodes where we're previewing who the Diamondbacks could sign.

No rush. No rush at all. Literally. There's literally no rush because this is going to, this thing is going to last three months until the Diamondbacks have, like, filled most of the holes on their roster. And it's, I hate it so much. It's like, put this in a confined space and making an event that people care about. Oh, they don't. You know, they're bad at making events and having stuff be like something you know when it's coming and when awards are going to be announced.

And all of that. 100%, but it's like everything they get wrong. It's like people should be tuning into the MLB network, which by the way, if you want to talk networks like NBA network, NBA TV versus NFL network versus MLB network. I think MLB network might have the best product of any of them. They have a really, really good product over at MLB network. You're right. People should be tuning into like the hot stove show.

I mean MLB right now across the country being like who's going to sign where. But no one cares. MLB was like an innovator in streaming games and getting all of that stuff out there, right? So at one point, they were on the forefront. And Michael Dixon says here, Jordan Montgomery signed March 29th. I don't know why you wanted to remind us of that. I don't need that. It's the non-flashback picture of the soldier in the background.

All I'm thinking is Jordan Montgomery highlights with a guy running around the bases around him. That was incredibly late, though, and that is as late as guys could sign. He's absolutely right. But it feels like for the most part, the Diamondbacks are going to be, once again, a team that signs guys late. They are going to probably wait for certain names to fall to them. They're going to wait for certain teams that are going to go out there and be spending far more money than they are to pick up those free agents and decide who they want. And again, this goes back to Katie May's unfortunate reality of the situation,

but it feels like they're going to have to wait to see what's left over. What are the scraps, right? And it's one of the only ways I think that they can find some of those diamonds in the rough that they can, you know, at least supplement their team with some of the support that is needed. I just don't think that they can go out there and once again sign the biggest name on the free agency market as far as pitching is. concerned, and I don't think any of us would be realistic to expect to do so. However, Robert Suarez is probably that. You know, if you're talking about relievers besides Edwin Diaz, who most likely is just going to resign with the Mets for another mountain of money, it really does feel like,

you know, again, the Diamondbacks might, we might be swinging for the fences there with the Robert Suarez deal. And that's why we felt like Devin Williams was far more reasonable. But we're going to take a quick break, and we are going to talk on the other side of this break about how maybe perhaps A salary floor is really what Major League Baseball needs more than a salary cap. And it might be something that we can actually get the owners and players on board with. So don't you go anywhere? You're watching the PHA next time in back show. Well, Damon, what time is it?

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prevails. Coverage is subject to individual policy holders meeting underwriting qualifications and state availability. Other terms, conditions and exclusions may apply. Well, of course, we over here in this small market, if you want to call it that, think that overspending is really the big problem in baseball. And when you look at the wide, I guess, range of what teams are paying in their payroll. You can understand why it's a little frustrating to see what the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to do year after year. But as many Dodgers fans screamed at us in the chat on Monday's show, there are other teams that are spending nearly as much money as the Dodgers. And I think, again, the problems that we have with the Dodgers go far beyond their current payroll and where it's at

and have more to do with the fact that they've creatively found ways within the confines of the rules of baseball to defer payments and to structure contracts in a way where they're able to continue to add free agent after free agent and improve their team here even after they've won three world series in the last five years. Damon and I were screaming and crying a little bit and maybe throwing tantrums over looking at that top 30 free agent list that I described earlier because most of the free agents on that list, have the Dodgers attached to them as the primary

team that could land them and it just makes you want to pull your hair out, right? But the problem there being might have less to do with the Dodgers and what they are able to spend and more with what the teams at the bottom have and are able to spend but aren't spending.

And I will definitely tip my cap to the Dodgers because they are at the top of baseball as far as reinvesting back into their team the money that they make off a bit, but as are the Diamondbacks. Therein is where the big problem with the differences in teams and what those franchises make and competitive balance lies, right, is that even though the Diamondbacks reinvest

a decent percentage of what they make back into the team, it still handicaps them in spending compared to what the Dodgers are able to make, right? And yes, you could say other teams can defer contracts and do all of that stuff too. I'm fine with agreeing with you on that. I'm not even going to argue with you on that point. And again, Elizabeth says the only thing I will tip my cap to is the Dodgers for their organist. He is elite. And yes, I will also tip my cap to him as well.

But can I say something? Can I say something nice about the Dodgers upside of the century? I like their stadium. Wow. I know, but that's a hot take. People really hate Dodgers Stadium for some reason, but I think it's pretty cool. I was not expecting that out of you. I kind of agree with you that on that.

I also love the Hollywood Bowl, by the way. which kind of has the same vibes to me as I just I like old stadiums I'm an old stadium yeah that's not like a that's not like a specific Dodgers thing that's every stadium well and the other stadiums that are old are very old they were they're like they're like way before my time Dodgers stadium even though it's also before my time still feels more of like the vibe that I grew up in in the 1900s because I was born and raised in the 1900s and you know I come from that that that era yeah and again that was uh it's It's always kind of matched aesthetically what I remember.

My first game I ever attended was a Dodgers game at that stadium. So that's where my first. Well, that's why you love that. There it is. That's your love of baseball. There it is. Mighty Schuman doesn't make a good point though, Derek. My last time I did go to Dodger Stadium.

I did watch Christian Walker, uh, claw us out of the Christian Mena, you know, start first inning disaster deficit. And we, the Dodgers, the D-Backs ended up being the Dodgers about like 10 with Christian Walker hitting like two bombs. Sure. That might have a little bit. You love that. Yeah, that generates good memories.

I'm hammered, drinking michelotas, yelling at Dodgers fans. My friends are like, damn, this is not actually the safest of ideas in the entire world. I've seen you. I know how you get, so I can understand their fears. But there are three teams in baseball that currently spend $300 million, the Dodgers, the Mets, and the Yankees. And then there's the Phillies, the Blue Jays, the Houston Astros, the Texas Rangers, the San Diego Padres, the Braves and the Cubs.

and even the Angels and the Red Sox there to round things out that all spend 200 million plus on their payroll. So again, if you talk about the league, almost half of the league spends more than $200 million on their payroll close to it. Right. And then after that, that's where the Diamondbacks and the Giants sit. The Giants had a payroll of 178,000. Diamondbacks had 177,000. Mariners, Baltimore, Detroit, Milwaukee. and again, if you wanted to set

some sort of threshold here for spending, maybe you start looking around this point, around that halfway point, because there are teams, there are five teams in baseball that last season didn't even spend $100 million on their teams. Those five

teams were the Tampa Bay Rays, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Chicago White Sox, the athletics, and the Miami Marlins. The Miami Marlins, for how good that team was, spent $67 million on their roster. That's crazy.

That's a team that just like the Diamondbacks basically ended up following just a little bit out of a final wildcard spot. And at one point they were one of the hottest teams in baseball. And they're doing it, quite frankly, with a roster full of names that most people have never heard of and don't know, right? Could you imagine if that Marlins team

spent a little money to supplement that young core, that young team that they had that played so well this year that drove them to a 79 and 83 record? and perhaps makes that team something. But that's the real true problem here, is you have teams like this, and quite frankly, as the years go on,

you start to see the same names down here, the same teams, the rays, the pirates, the white socks, the athletics, the Marlins, you see these teams down here

just continue to underspend. And that's it. The issue isn't the Dodgers spending too much. It's the A spending too little. It's the Marlins spending too little. It's the, White Sox spending too little. And that's why a salary floor is something that so many people have talked about.

We've spoke about on the show. And some people just might not understand what that is or why that is important. Salary four forces all teams to invest in their team. It reduces tanking. It reduces giving up on an entire 162 baseball game season. More importantly, it reduces that being a year in and year out quality trait that a team that an organization has. it just ensures that every club builds a competitive roster, prevents owners from pocketing revenue

and revenue sharing money instead of reinvesting it because quite frankly that's happening with some of these teams down here. These teams are getting revenue sharing money and they're not spending it because of the taxes and everything that's being generated by teams like the Dodgers and the Mets and the Yankees. That is going back to the other clubs in baseball and they're not spending it.

And again, this causes fans to get a better product. fans deserve a better product. Fans of these teams that get invested in them. Look at the Tampa Bay Rays. Blake Snell and Tyler Glassnow both came from the Tampa Bay's Ray or Ray's organization. Could you imagine what that team would be if they kept them instead of getting rid of them? That's just become Ray's baseball over there.

Just getting rid of guys. We come close. Oh, we made it to a World Series. Oh, get rid of the guys. It's crazy. You know, and again, this is something that players and the union would be in favor of and owners wouldn't be, but again, some of the owners that spend should be in favor of. It guarantees every roster has a fair baseline of payroll commitments and it increases job

stability and raises salaries across baseball. Right. And again, it encourages those owners and those front offices to reinvest back into their young players like the Diamondbacks are doing by extending guys like Geraldo Perdomo and Corbyn Carroll. The Diamondbacks are doing what they should. And the Diamondbacks are not nearly making the money that some of these other organizations are making. Right?

The Chicago White Sox, at the end of the season, their 26-man roster was costing them $17 million. Because of injuries, their top stars were all essentially moved as far as injury pay. So their 26-man roster at the end of the season was getting paid a total of $17 million.

That's what some players are making annually. And it's just worked. We've talked about the salary cap being something that's across other sports. Fine, but so is the salary floor. The NFL's is very complicated, but they have a salary floor to tie to league revenue, ensuring every team invests in players since 2011. The NFL salary floor has been determined using a four-year rolling average. Each team has been required to spend a sum of money on player compensation that is equal to or greater than 89% of the collective salary cap numbers over the previous four seasons.

So as those numbers progress, teams are forced to spend more, which they should be because as time progresses, those teams are making more money. And if they care about their business, which is the team that they own, then they should care about getting butts in the seats in those stadiums and not just opposing fans. that are there to watch other teams that they like come into town and play. And that goddamn factor has been driving sports for far too long because it's the reality of the matter. And we know that here more than most cities understand it because here in Arizona, we have to go to our stadiums and deal with it being filled with 50% opposing fans. And that's just not a home field advantage anymore.

That's not something that any team should strive for. You should strive for season ticket holders and loyal, loyal people that are going to come spend their money every game at your stadium and on food and on merch and do all of that stuff. And I mean, overall, man, it's just crazy. Like NBA teams must spend at least 90% of the cap forcing them once again to stay competitive. MLB is the only major league without that kind of accountability mechanism. The only league. And I mean, again, the bigger thing is when you talk about teams like the Dodgers being able to land those guys,

there is no loyalty because those players know that the organizations that drafted them that had them come up and mature and become an elite major league baseball player under their watch and under their guidance are they're eventually not going to pay them when paul skeins is inevitably a dodger or a yankee or a met it's not those teams fault for opening up their pockets and and paying him. It's going to be the pirates' fault for not keeping him. And that's an inevitability that we all are already facing, right? When a young hot player comes up for an organization like the race, like the pirates, you just start assuming where are they going to sign once they're out of their deal? Where are they going to go? How are they going to change some other team once the pirates don't invest in that person any longer? And that's the reason why a salary floor is so important. A salary floor would require Pittsburgh to pay Paul Skeens because they were required to pay out money and they would rather keep that individual rather than letting them go to another team that's just going to open up their checkbook.

And yes, B.C. Skeens is from Fullerton, California. So there is the concept there that a player like him is going to go back regardless to a team like the Dodgers that he might always want to play for or a player growing up wanting to play for the Yankees. A big reason why you grow- Fullerton is by the angels. That's funny. Why doesn't he want to be an angel? Why wouldn't he want to be an angel? I think we know why he wouldn't want to be an angel.

Don't look. Damon's staring daggers at me. And I don't feel like I'm tired of pretending it like it's not a money thing. It is 100% a money thing. Yeah. But it's also playing for an organization that's in the position that the Dodgers are in right. 100%. You make the most money and you win the most on the Dodgers.

It's not even like you have to be like, you know what? I'm going to take a pay. cut because I want to win. No. No. That's what makes the Dodgers situation so unfair. You don't even have to take a pay cut. They're going to pay you more than the pirates were going to pay you to go play for them. Right. So again, that's the reason why a salary floor is so important in baseball and it's what's missing. It stops owners from exploiting this goddamn small market status and it increases competitive balance across baseball because these teams that are spending $17 million on their 26-man roster by the end of the year have to pay more. And it just, it raises pay across baseball. It would

stop having to have these labor disputes and it just would improve the quality of every team. And this is a season where we didn't even have a hundred winner, a hundred game winner, right? So there's already a fair amount of parody, but that parody kind of vanished once the playoffs came along and you saw the difference in competition or in competitiveness, I guess you could say, between the Dodgers and everybody else they faced along the way until they matched up with the Blue Jays, right? And then they win and now I had to go out and boohoo with sunglasses on on Monday because I just watched one of the greatest world series of all time and in the most tragic way where the Dodgers came back and won it and kind of broke the heart of everybody that essentially isn't a Dodger fan. Lost highway, not wrong at all, says need to clean up the arbitration rookie structure two. Big problem.

Absolutely agree with you on that. Absolutely agree. It's what allows these teams that don't spend money to essentially exploit those good players until the small contracts are over and then they're gone. So B says, Derek, we're headed towards a locket at this point. You know that right. Well, this is going to be the biggest point of contention when that's, CBA is argued and negotiated. It's going to be about how can they increase the competitive nature

across baseball and owners are going to be screaming about a salary cap and that they should spend less when in fact it needs to be more about teams spending more, quite frankly. Like I said, there are a whole lot of teams including the Diamondbacks. Most of baseball only there are only 12 teams spending more than $200 million, but you kind of know that all those teams could spend $200 million and are just choosing not to do so. I mean, that's really around where the cap should be probably. Like, that's where most of the major sports are. I think, I mean, let me do a-

Make it 250? Make a floor 150? I don't know. The NFL salary cap is at 280 million. The NBA salary cap is at 160 million, and they obviously have a lot less players. I think $200 million, based off of the number of. of players you have is almost the sweet spot. And here's the thing, Derek, that

I think that is like the most infuriating part. Let's start doing major league rosters too and not just like, because a big part of the roster also has that other money that's involved with, you know, minor league players and all of that other stuff. Like we need to figure out a way where when we're talking about the cap money, you're just talking about

the players on the major league roster. The players union should not and the NBA is a big problem with this as well. The players union should not only cater to their top clients. It should not be a 1% of MLB players get paid this crazy amount of money by crazy teams while the relief pitcher on the Diamondbacks is making $700,000 over the course of a season, which is a lot of money.

Don't get me wrong. But the discrepancy is massive. And you're seeing that in the NBA right now as well. Granted, there is a floor there. But the floor will help the lower players make more money, not just keep the game more competitive, but it's going to raise the floor of what like a lower level MLB player should make. And I think that everybody should be a fan of that, frankly.

Damon, I know you and I love our jobs. And I don't think anybody could argue that we get paid handsomely to do this job. It's for the love of the game. But I will say no minor league baseball players should be making less than what you and I make. And I think that's one of the biggest problems with baseball. Or if they're making less, then they should get free rule. And that's that is happening. Yeah.

Like so yeah, they've made some changes and things are going better. Exactly. But it's still just the weirdest game and it's the most difficult to figure out. Yeah. But we appreciate you guys being here on the other side of this break. We're going to take a trip down memory lane on one of probably our one of our last throwback Thursdays for a while considering there isn't much stuff that happens on this week back in 2001 when we were riding high in a parade in downtown Phoenix.

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And of course, keep your eyes protected at all time. So we've teamed up with Shady Race to bring you an exclusive offer at the ShadyRase.com and use code PHNX for 35%. Off those polarized sunglasses, try for yourself the shades rated five stars by over 300,000 people. And it is Thursday, and you know what we do around here on Thursday. We love to take a little trip, a little trek down memory lane. And I mean, this might be the best one of the entire year, because as we talked about briefly the other day, on Tuesday when it actually happened, on November 4th, 2001, Luis Gonzalez's soft single to left field scored J.B. and capped a two-run ninth inning comeback as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat Mariano Rivera and the Yankees by a score of three to two to become the quickest expansion expansion franchise team to ever win a World Series.

Those were good days. I mean, I was on a cloud that I can't even express. You couldn't talk to me. And one of my best friends in the whole wide world, our guy Moe, who we made. Miss dearly. He was a huge Dodgers fan at the time. And I got... Oh, I miss most ribs off, all playoff song. But then again, I didn't. He would have been making me angry. He was, he's good with this, man. Love that guy. And of course, loved giving him the ribs back then. But on November 7, 2001, tomorrow back in 2001, the Arizona Diamondback celebrated that World Series

championship with a parade of our own and it was glorious. Damon, I think we have some of the shots from this parade and if I could have pictures converted into liquid form and injected into my veins, it would be this one right here of Baxter in that purple uniform riding on top of an SUV cruising across downtown Phoenix while confetti falls everywhere. It was amazing. We got some more images I think here Damon we can just kind of run through them uh we we we got we were robbed of this in 23 we were robbed of this we were we were the should have been me and derrick up there on on on that shirt float just going nuts with no shirts on the shirt floor float without 100% with with jesse junior of course yeah with them just strewn across that actually i Derek i think there's a non-zero

chance we would have been in the parade yeah no there's like a 10% chance we would have been in the like we might not have been invited but we would have Like found in it. But like Ryan Tom, you're telling me Ryan Thompson is it like grab it. And then you're like you're grabbing me too. Yeah. And it's me and you and we just got up shotgunning with Ryan Thompson. Yeah.

Like Sloan and Ferris Bueller and Cameron in that movie. Right there on top of the firetruck. Oh, it would have been so good. We would have just been right there. Look at this double decker bus. This goes so hard. It does. I want to see if London bust.

dot com is still in business because I would love to rent this for our P.HNX holiday party. This goes incredibly hard. It does. Look at this one. Is this in downtown Phoenix or is this Disneyland? Is this Main Street? I want to go back. Take me back.

Like Elizabeth says, what a time to be alive. And then it entered into the stadium there where they all stood on stage and made their speeches. Oh, good times. Special. Good times. Well, we have some more times this week to address on November 5th, 2002, Randy Johnson, who brought us that World Series practically himself, won his fourth consecutive NL.

Sy Young Award and the fifth of his career. And that's just so crazy that this man was doing this at like 40 years old. The lefty was a unanimous selection after capturing the triple crown of pitching, leading the National League in wins with 24, leading the National League in ERA with a 2.32 ERA and leading the league in strikeouts with 334. It's just disgusting how good Randy Johnson was, and it's just hard to wrap your mind around sometimes. November 5th, 2004, Bob Melvin was named manager of this team,

and his stint didn't last for a long time, but I think people still love Bob Melvin and still loved that move at the time. on November 8th, 2006, the DeBacks unveiled the Sedona Red and Sonoran, Sand, and Black at the Hotel Valley Ho in Scot State. Oh, sorry, Derek. That's my bad. Forever altering our history and how great things were for us in this franchise, basically just conceding that the Colorado Rockies here. You have the greatest color in all of baseball. Take it from us.

Look at this. Look at this outfit. I'm wearing right now with these shorts and these shoes. This purple goes so hard. I don't know what we're doing anymore. Also

for, this one's just for Killer X. On November 4, 2016, the Arizona Diamondbacks named Tori Lavala is the organization's eighth manager. That's our guy! I was going to ask him about chicken parmesan the other day, but I figured I'd just

wait for it to be a surprise on Sunday. One more time. time. That's my guy. Eighth manager in Diamondbacks history. And then on November 8, 2023, some more history for Tori Lubello. The debacks agreed to terms on a contract extension with him through the 2026 season. And here we are.

Here we are. Well, of course, if you guys want to be informed in the way that we try to inform you with Throwback Thursday, make sure to sign up for the PHNX newsletter. You can get it completely for free over there. P-H-N-X.com slash newsletter, our guy Alex. Dagestino is now running it and doing an excellent job. Love to see it in my mailbox every morning. You can be the smartest sports fan you know,

and you'll get the biggest news in Arizona sports in your inbox every day at 6 a.m. Well, before we get out of here, I just wanted to spread a little bit of awareness about an auction going on right now for an amazing cause. the Reno Aces team photographer David Calvert is unfortunately currently going through a battle with leukemia F cancer and all that and the Reno Aces are holding an auction to help David here in his time of need and of course we are big fan of David's work getting us so many great images of young Arizona Diamondbacks prospects up there in Reno and the Diamondbacks have helped out a little bit here with this auction you can bid on items right now like a Luis Gonzalez signed World Series replica bat. But you're going to have to

outbid me on that one because that's going to look really good here in Studio K right under that sign when I win that. You can also bid on signed baseballs from current D-backs players, Corbyn Carroll, and Lordus Gurriel Jr., as well as a batting practice experience at Chase Field for a game during the 2026 season. I don't know if you've seen, but the Diamondbacks are going to be holding a batting practice over there at Chasefield and having people come out for different sessions. So again, you can sign up over there. You could win it at this auction and help out a very, very good cause. So check out the Reno Aces website. We tweet it out the link from our account, but you can also get it in the show notes as well. We'll post it there. So if you're interested in

bidding on that auction, we implore you to do so. Let's help out our Diamondbacks family here. shout out to David, wishing him the best. But again, we thank you guys so much for joining us today. We will be back tomorrow. We're going to talk about some of those trade scenarios that Mike Hazen might be looking at, as well as some more free agents that this team could acquire. And we'll see if any action has happened once 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time rolls around today. But of course, until then, you can follow us on Twitter.

I am at cap underscore caveman with a K. Damon is at Damon Dog with a D-A-W-G at the end. And we are all Damon's dog. bark bark our show is at p h and x underscore debacks but as always all roads lead to at p h and x underscore sports on twitter instagram and facebook thank you guys so much for your time we love you we appreciate you sharing your time with us we will be back again tomorrow until then have a wonderful evening emily williams thank you for your super chat again she says derrick gets no tacos if he doesn't do the jersey list fair that's fair i can't argue with that damon i probably don't deserve

tacos if I don't get that jersey list done but we thank you Emily we could do it we could literally do a Jersey list episode Derek we're gonna do that for Emily yeah that's what I'm saying do the jersey we're just gonna do the updated list live on the show yeah and then I'll put it into writing for her so she can have forever but that's a great idea we'll do like a we'll do like a tier rancor of of the jersey list we'll try to give Emily a little a little bit of we got to get the new perpiente's jersey in there because that's absolutely That's the biggest thing changing. And then maybe you could go red inside on the other end of that.

I'll do my job. I will do my job. Well, thank you all for being here. Behave yourself, Emily, specifically. And remember, kids, baseball is fun. But it's so much more fun when you don't have to scrape the bottom of the bargain bin.