Speaker 1: If you're able to get the best version of all
Speaker 1: these guys, or somewhat close to the best version of
Speaker 1: all of them, it really could be one of the
Speaker 1: best rotations in baseball.
Speaker 2: Here we go back on FT with Jesse Friedman, longtime
Speaker 2: Arizona Diamondbacks writer, podcast host. Great to have you on,
Speaker 2: Jesse Happy almost spring training time and works had to
Speaker 2: keep kind of rolling through team by team previews. But
Speaker 2: how you doing not a bad offseason to cover the team?
Speaker 3: Hey, guys, I'm great, appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, anytime you swoop in and sign the
Speaker 1: top free agent pitcher on the market, like you're probably
Speaker 1: doing pretty well for yourself.
Speaker 3: So yeah, the Diamondbacks to very much to my surprise.
Speaker 1: Honestly, they've had a pretty nice offseason for themselves for sure.
Speaker 4: Are you mad?
Speaker 5: We just had jameson Tai on on and I asked
Speaker 5: them they have to go play the Dodgers in Japan
Speaker 5: for two games, and I'm like, are you should even go?
Speaker 4: Because they're gonna win every game?
Speaker 5: So as the Diamondbacks in the division have to play
Speaker 5: them thirteen times, the team that beat them two years
Speaker 5: ago knocked them out of the playoffs. And played really
Speaker 5: well against them in twenty four? Should they even play
Speaker 5: the season because the Diamondbacks are trying here. They brought
Speaker 5: in some big moves and did some things we're gonna
Speaker 5: get into. But should the Diamondbacks even try this year?
Speaker 5: Should they just forfeit the games of Dodgers?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I mean, You've got two competing narratives here, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean one aspect of this is I think we
Speaker 1: can all agree that, yes, some owners should go out
Speaker 1: and spend more money than they do. But there's also
Speaker 1: an element of the fact that the Dodgers say that
Speaker 1: the Dodgers are pulling in more revenue than the Diamondbacks
Speaker 1: and then a lot of other teams around the league, Right,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that is not really a controversial
Speaker 1: point to make, and so there are inherent advantages there.
Speaker 1: At the same time, we saw what happened in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, right, That Dodgers team maybe wasn't quite as
Speaker 1: star studded as the team we're expecting to see in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, But that Dodgers team was pretty good
Speaker 1: as well. And the Diamondbacks went in there and frankly
Speaker 1: kind of obliterated and humiliated them in some ways. So
Speaker 1: you know, on one hand, there are some inequities in
Speaker 1: this sport that are just kind of inherent to the
Speaker 1: way that the sport runs. And on the other side,
Speaker 1: you've got this element of randomness in the postseason that
Speaker 1: really allows anything to happen if you're able to get in. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks very narrowly were not able to do that
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four. But with the addition of Corbyn
Speaker 1: Burns and the offseason that they've had and how good
Speaker 1: they already were last year, I think they have a
Speaker 1: decent shot in twenty twenty five to get back in there.
Speaker 1: And who knows what happens at that point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, hey, arm health matters. We've seen that be a
Speaker 2: problem for that team many times in the past. It
Speaker 2: could be a problem again.
Speaker 4: We'll see.
Speaker 2: All right, So let's get to business here, and let's
Speaker 2: get Diamondbacks fans and just fans of any team besides
Speaker 2: the Dodgers may be excited with our twenty twenty five storylines.
Speaker 2: Twenty twenty five storylines for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Here's what
Speaker 2: we're gonna run through with Jesse right now. The dreamy rotation,
Speaker 2: which obviously was boosted by this big signing in the offseason,
Speaker 2: the Josh Naylor edition which is sneaky and the p's loading.
Speaker 2: We'll talk Toatel and Corbin Carrol, and then also just
Speaker 2: remind everyone that the Diamondbacks were pretty damn good last
Speaker 2: year too, they just were facing a different playoff field.
Speaker 2: So Jesse Friedman, let's begin with the headliner, as we should.
Speaker 2: Corbin Burns signs surprisingly with the Diamondbacks because we saw
Speaker 2: almost no whispers about this. So when you add him
Speaker 2: to what's already there, do you think this is one
Speaker 2: of the best rotations in Major League Baseball?
Speaker 3: If not maybe the best?
Speaker 1: I think it could be that. You know, that's really
Speaker 1: the best answer I can give on that. I'm hesitanting
Speaker 1: to go too far in that direction, because frankly, you
Speaker 1: look at the numbers a year ago and the results
Speaker 1: were not good for this starting rotation. The Diamondbacks had
Speaker 1: a four point seventy nine starting rotation era in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four. And yes, there were a lot of factors there.
Speaker 1: You know, Zach Gallon missed a month, plus Meryl Kelly
Speaker 1: missed four months. At Ward, Rodriguez missed four months. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the Jordan Montgomery move did not pan out, to put it,
Speaker 1: to put it mildly, but yeah, I mean, this is
Speaker 1: a team that on paper still had quite a bit
Speaker 1: of talent in twenty twenty four, and you add Corbyn
Speaker 1: Burns to that mix. It's an easy rotation to dream on,
Speaker 1: I guess, is what I would say.
Speaker 3: At the very least.
Speaker 1: I mean, Zach Gallon has been one of the more
Speaker 1: consistent frontline starters in the game for a while. Meryl
Speaker 1: Kelly when he's healthy, when he's been healthy in recent years,
Speaker 1: has been excellent. And Wardo Rodriguez was fantastic with the
Speaker 1: Detroit Tigers back in twenty twenty three. Ryan Nelson really
Speaker 1: came on strong in the second half, a good young
Speaker 1: pitcher for this team. So if you're able to get
Speaker 1: like the best version of all these guys, or somewhat
Speaker 1: close to the best version of all of them, it
Speaker 1: really could be one of the best rotations in baseball.
Speaker 1: I'm just a little hesitant to go too far down
Speaker 1: that road when the reality in twenty twenty four was
Speaker 1: very different from that.
Speaker 6: How hesteron are you to say that Josh Naylor is
Speaker 6: going to be able to fill Christian Walker's shoes because
Speaker 6: Christian Walker kind of a quiet, super productive gold glove
Speaker 6: first baseman. Josh Naylor also productive, not quite the resume super.
Speaker 1: Loud, yeah right, not so quiet with Josh Naylor, they
Speaker 1: are very different personality wise, you know, I think offensively,
Speaker 1: Josh Naylor and Christian Walker are pretty similar. I was
Speaker 1: looking at some numbers earlier today. Over the past three seasons,
Speaker 1: Christian Walker has a one to twenty three ops plus.
Speaker 1: Josh Naylor also has a one to twenty three ops plus.
Speaker 1: So offensively, I think on paper it could be it
Speaker 1: could be, you know, a pretty good swap for the
Speaker 1: Diamondbacks where they can at least get something close to
Speaker 1: what they were getting with Christian Walker. Defensively is a
Speaker 1: very different story. Watching Christian Walker play first base is
Speaker 1: one of the most amazing things about watching the Arizona Diamondbacks,
Speaker 1: or it has been the past three seasons. It's been
Speaker 1: fun for me to to kind of get a front
Speaker 1: row seat to that because he is really good. He
Speaker 1: is the best defensive first baseman in all of baseball
Speaker 1: as far as I'm concerned. And Josh Naylor, you know,
Speaker 1: not to say he's necessarily a liability over there. I
Speaker 1: know the metrics in twenty twenty four we're not great,
Speaker 1: but there's a substantial difference, right, I mean there's a
Speaker 1: reason that I think on baseball reference war, you know,
Speaker 1: Christian Walker has almost twice as much war over the
Speaker 1: past three seasons as Naylor does. Part of that is
Speaker 1: the number of games that the Walker has played He's
Speaker 1: been able to stay healthy. But part of that is
Speaker 1: also that Christian Walker is an extraordinary defender and Josh
Speaker 1: Naylor is not that. But in terms of filling you know,
Speaker 1: Walker's shoes at first base, I think the Diamondbacks did
Speaker 1: reasonably well for themselves. You can plug Josh Naylor into
Speaker 1: the middle of the lineup and and feel pretty good
Speaker 1: about it.
Speaker 4: Jesse, do it with me. Yeah, you gotta rock the baby.
Speaker 5: You gotta learn to rock the baby like Josh Naylor
Speaker 5: does when he hits home runs. Right, you better get
Speaker 5: used to rocking the baby when he gets when he
Speaker 5: comes up and he hits his home run.
Speaker 4: Yeah right, right, rock the baby. That's right.
Speaker 3: It's the Yankee fans. They do it to him back.
Speaker 5: He did a White Sox a lot, so I know
Speaker 5: that pained. You know, we talked about Josh Nayeler. You
Speaker 5: guys have two other studs on your team. One of
Speaker 5: them could tell Marte had a shot to win the MVP.
Speaker 4: Before he got hurt last year.
Speaker 5: And then Corbyn Carroll the rookie of the Year two
Speaker 5: years ago and had a great second half. What can
Speaker 5: these guys do to improve from where they were last year?
Speaker 5: And the Diamondbacks scored a lot of runs last year.
Speaker 5: Can they keep up the offensive surge they had last year?
Speaker 5: And then with the new pitching staff, will that helped
Speaker 5: them get better?
Speaker 1: As far as how they can improve, I mean, Coutel Marte,
Speaker 1: I think it's hard. It's hard to ask the improvement
Speaker 1: there at this point. You did mention he got hurt
Speaker 1: toward the end of the season, which was a turn
Speaker 1: for him. So you know, if he's able to play
Speaker 1: a full one hundred and fifty five games or so,
Speaker 1: that would certainly be a big development. But Kutel was
Speaker 1: outstanding for this team. I mean, he had thirty six
Speaker 1: home runs in twenty twenty four. Had he not gotten hurt,
Speaker 1: he probably would have STD the forty you know, winds
Speaker 1: up finishing third in NL MVP voting. So you know,
Speaker 1: if he's able to just be anything like what he
Speaker 1: was in twenty twenty fours, if he's able to duplicate
Speaker 1: that in twenty twenty five, that would be enormous for
Speaker 1: this team. Corbyn Carroll in terms of improvement, that's where
Speaker 1: the narrative really lies for me. Corbin, as you said,
Speaker 1: was great in the second half. He had an OPS
Speaker 1: over nine hundred, and that came after hitting two home
Speaker 1: runs in his first eighty seven games. The man hit
Speaker 1: two home runs in his first eighty seven games, and
Speaker 1: he finished the year with twenty two home runs. So
Speaker 1: that gives you a sense of just how different of
Speaker 1: a player Corbyn Carroll was down the stretch. And you know,
Speaker 1: obviously this this is a game of adjustments. You guys
Speaker 1: certainly know that as well as anyone. You're not gonna
Speaker 1: just sort of coast to being a superstar player and
Speaker 1: never never face any bumps in the road along the way,
Speaker 1: at least at least not most of the time. And
Speaker 1: it really felt like Corbyn Carroll kind of got over
Speaker 1: the hump in the second half. And you know, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure if he's gonna finish first and MVP voting
Speaker 1: or you know, how much MVP consideration he'll ultimately get,
Speaker 1: but he seems like a pretty safe bet to be
Speaker 1: a lot better in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 6: I don't think many people. I'm sure you know many
Speaker 6: people know that the Diamondbacks last year had five more
Speaker 6: wins at eighty nine compared to the eighty four that
Speaker 6: they won in the year they went to the World Series.
Speaker 6: Is this team built for October but isn't sure how
Speaker 6: to get in or are they just going to improve
Speaker 6: again with the new roster configuration that they came up
Speaker 6: with like they did last year.
Speaker 1: I think they have a shot to be even better
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five than they were in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3: I do, And you're right.
Speaker 1: I mean the narrative that the twenty twenty four Diamondbacks
Speaker 1: were a big disappointment. I mean, in one sense, yes,
Speaker 1: like you miss the postseason, you feel like you've you know,
Speaker 1: you feel like it is a disappointment, rightfully so. But
Speaker 1: on the other hand, they did win five more games
Speaker 1: than they did the season prior, and you talk about
Speaker 1: being built for the postseason, It's a little bit hard
Speaker 1: for me to know exactly what built for the postseason means.
Speaker 1: But when there's so much randomness involved, but you know,
Speaker 1: you feel pretty good about you know, Corbyn Burns starting
Speaker 1: a game one, Zach Allen starting a game two, Merrill
Speaker 1: Kelly game three, you know whatever. They'd have a number
Speaker 1: of options after that. This is a team that I
Speaker 1: think could probably compete with anyone in twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: in a postseason series, certainly, And I think a big
Speaker 1: question for them is what does the offense look like?
Speaker 1: You mentioned earlier this team scored more runs than anyone
Speaker 1: else in baseball in twenty twenty four, which still kind
Speaker 1: of blows my mind. I'm still not a direly sure
Speaker 1: how that happened, but that was the reality of the situation.
Speaker 1: This team just absolutely beat the tar out of the
Speaker 1: ball the entire season, and I'm not sure I'm expecting
Speaker 1: that to continue in twenty twenty five. I still think
Speaker 1: they could be a good offensive team, especially if Corbyn
Speaker 1: Carroll is able to take that step forward. But you
Speaker 1: don't have Jack Peterson anymore. Christian Walker, as we said earlier,
Speaker 1: is no longer here, even though they did get a
Speaker 1: solid replacement there, I think in Josh Naylor. So yeah,
Speaker 1: the question is, you know, if you do take a
Speaker 1: step back on the offensive side, which I think is likely.
Speaker 1: How much better can your pitching staff be than it
Speaker 1: was a year ago? And I think it probably could
Speaker 1: be quite a bit better.
Speaker 3: Right I mentioned.
Speaker 1: Earlier a four point seven nine starting pitching eer. With
Speaker 1: some of the names that they have this season, I
Speaker 1: think if you're able to stay healthy, that group could
Speaker 1: take an enormous step forward and ultimately land this team
Speaker 1: in a much better position.
Speaker 2: Okay, Jesse, So let's recap, because then I'm going to
Speaker 2: put you to the test and tell us what we're
Speaker 2: missing about this team. Because we covered Burns, Naylor, Katl
Speaker 2: and Corbyn bringing it this year, and then how the
Speaker 2: team was pretty damn good. Last year was a different
Speaker 2: landscape for them to have to hit, and they just
Speaker 2: didn't get over the hump. I mean, the Mets were
Speaker 2: a pretty surprising team, and obviously the Braves were in
Speaker 2: a weird spot last season. The Diamondbacks were in that
Speaker 2: super awkward position of watching and rooting for one team
Speaker 2: to win both games. Anyway, fast forward to twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: What are we missing storylines wise that is going to
Speaker 2: dictate the success of the Diamondbacks.
Speaker 1: I think The first thing that comes to mind for me,
Speaker 1: Scott is is are the Diamondbacks done this offseason. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure that they are. I think there's a chance
Speaker 1: that come opening Day this team could still look a
Speaker 1: little bit different. I know they would like to add
Speaker 1: a closer if they can. Obviously, Paul Sewald had his
Speaker 1: struggles down the stretch last year. He left in free agency,
Speaker 1: so I think that's a hole they would like to fill.
Speaker 1: I could see them adding a right handed bat to
Speaker 1: maybe get some some DH reps as well, So I
Speaker 1: think there are still some things that could be done
Speaker 1: here that The flip side of that narrative is that
Speaker 1: I still think there's a decent chance they look to
Speaker 1: trade someone like Jordan Montgomery in order to free up
Speaker 1: some salary space. Their payroll is inching close to two
Speaker 1: hundred million dollars right now, which is, you know, very much,
Speaker 1: far and away the highest enfranchise history. So I'll be
Speaker 1: curious to see what happens here over the over these
Speaker 1: next couple months as we get close to the season.
Speaker 1: The other narrative that comes to mind for me is
Speaker 1: Ao Henio Suarez, a name that we haven't we haven't
Speaker 1: mentioned yet. You know, if you had asked me in
Speaker 1: the middle of last year if the Diamondbacks were going
Speaker 1: to pick up his fifteen million dollar club option, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure I would have taken the question seriously frankly.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, he in the first half really
Speaker 1: really struggled. He had an OPS in the five hundreds
Speaker 1: for multiple months, and then in the second half he
Speaker 1: was one of the best hitters in all of baseball,
Speaker 1: had an OPS over nine hundred. He had four four
Speaker 1: hit games in the second half. He was unbelievable. And
Speaker 1: I think I could see a scenario where maybe Gino
Speaker 1: is able to be a great player again in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five. Or you could also maybe see a scenario
Speaker 1: where as he continues to age, you know, maybe we
Speaker 1: see some regression as we started to see at the
Speaker 1: beginning of last year. So I think he's a name
Speaker 1: to watch in twenty twenty five for sure.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: It was great pick up, great Dudet, good fella, good fellow,
Speaker 2: good fellow. That Gino Suarez. That's right, Jesse. Great to
Speaker 2: have you on. Thanks for all the insight, man, really
Speaker 2: good stuff, great intel, and we'll have you again on soon.
Speaker 2: Everyone give Jesse a follow at Jesse N Friedman f
Speaker 2: R i E D m A N on Twitter.
Speaker 3: Appreciate you man, Yeah, thanks guys, always happy to do it.