Mat Germain, Tampa Bay Rays & Orioles and the MLB Postseason, Living the Dream

Tampa Bay Rays & Orioles Birdland with Mat_Germain_ PostSeason & New Stadium chat

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck I'm Mark Corbett, your host. And with me today is Mr. Mat Germain, because when we're talking about anything with the Tampa Bay Rays. Mat is on top of it. So really this is his show that we talk about the race. So raise up to all you fans out there, man. How you doing today?

[00:00:24] Mark Corbett: My friend, 

[00:00:25] Mat Germain: I am living the stadium dream, I guess that the new big name going around for Tampa. Anyway 

[00:00:33] Mark Corbett: Man you and I've had this conversation. I can't think how many times about when are we going to go? Where are we going to go? When's it going to come up? Jeez crackers, man. I'm done with it.

[00:00:46] Mark Corbett: I kept looking at. What is it? We had a lease with the trough through 2027. How long does it take to build a stadium? We've barely got time to do that. Don't we? Jeez. 

[00:00:56] Mat Germain: It's right on the edge. I think three and a half years is a good amount of time. Cause I guess that's what you would need for for it to be ready for the spring.

[00:01:05] Mat Germain: Hopefully they'll let us know tomorrow when they'll get the shovels in the ground and get working. 

[00:01:13] Mark Corbett: I don't know, man, it has been such a rollercoaster ride. I don't know if I'll miss the uncertainty or not after tomorrow. 

[00:01:21] Mat Germain: Yeah. In a way, like it's been great advertising for them. And it's kept them in the news and a lot of years that they might not have been anyway.

[00:01:30] Mat Germain: Yeah. 

[00:01:30] Mark Corbett: I get, like I said, I continue to get more calls and more questions on that than just about anything, but it has. Been an exciting week for the Rays. Look at this, man. What are we? We're down to the last two weeks of regular season. Hey, did this come up fast or what? 

[00:01:48] Mat Germain: It came up super fast. Oh gosh.

[00:01:51] Mat Germain: Like August, September flu. 

[00:01:54] Mark Corbett: Yeah. After July, long dreading July of just slogging through week, bad game after another, and then coming back. Through, through August and now looking pretty daggone good in September and we'll talk a little bit about that, but I want to see as far as where things are going overall across both leagues.

[00:02:20] Mark Corbett: I'm going to go down to a rundown here. I'm looking here at the standings and if we look at American League. Bang, not surprising, AL East, Orioles and Rays the Rays are two games back from getting the East. And the funny thing is too, is I think the Orioles are still have to play two more games this year than the Rays do.

[00:02:45] Mat Germain: Yeah. And that's going to wear them down to be honest, for the playoffs. Like I want to say wearing down their pen, you could tell even against the Rays and they was used quite a bit. They're going to be worn when they get into the playoffs, I think on that end. Yeah, 

[00:02:58] Mark Corbett: I see. I was doing a little Math here earlier.

[00:03:00] Mark Corbett: Orioles are in the middle of a 17 game stretch without a break. And their last off day was Thursday, September 7th. And their next one won't be until Monday, September 25th, a week from now. Wow. Let's see who the Orioles got, they'll still be facing the Houston Astros and the Guardians. That's going to be on the road in the last leg of the season, there's going to be six games at home, two with the Nationals and four with the Red Sox.

[00:03:33] Mark Corbett: So that'd be able to catch your breath and face two teams that aren't the most stellar of the bunch and the nationals and the red Sox, but the red Sox have been playing better off and on, so I don't know. We'll see how that goes for them. Yeah, 

[00:03:49] Mat Germain: the whole looking at the schedule and just guessing that they'll dominate this or dominate that or get the power schedule sort of thing is such a farce when it comes to baseball, because really you can have a team come out of nowhere and be hot just that one week And really squash your plans.

[00:04:11] Mat Germain: So I, when I look basically at the schedule, in my opinion, the Orioles have a toughest of the, what I call true contenders because they have so few days off and their routine is already thin and it's already filled with young players who are maybe out of gas heading into the playoffs. So I think.

[00:04:33] Mat Germain: There's a good chance that they're going to be an early out, even if they do make it into the playoffs now having the first round by would go a long way to helping him out on that end for sure. But I think that's why the race pushed so hard in the last game to get that win because they know what was at stake.

[00:04:52] Mat Germain: And when I look at the rest of it, though, just to continue on with that, you have the Jays who are facing 12 games of the Yankees and Rays. And that is not good for them because they suck at least our East in general teams. So I think. There's a potential for the Jays to end up getting squashed out because of their divisional opponents.

[00:05:15] Mat Germain: And I think that the Rangers in theory have a, have the better chance to squeeze the head of them. Whether or not the Mariners can stay hot enough and maintain momentum to also be a hit we'll see. But it's nice to have a race that goes down to the wire like that. 

[00:05:32] Mark Corbett: Yeah. The AL West really does have a lot of strength here.

[00:05:35] Mark Corbett: While you got the Astros. They're a game and a half ahead of the Rangers. The Mariners only a game behind the Rangers. Geez that's tight. And so let's see, wins there. Rangers have 81 wins in the second spot on AOS and the Mariners are 81. Guardians, who are second in the, in this AL Central, only has 72 wins.

[00:05:57] Mark Corbett: But Blue Jays with 83. Yeah. Like you said, depending on who they're playing and how they fare there, I don't. Really see that by any kind of shooting for them whatsoever. I would be very entertained if we had three teams from the ALEs coming in here, but I don't think it's going to happen.

[00:06:15] Mat Germain: But the other thing to point out too, is that the Astros are still playing for something. And so they're facing the Orioles the right away and the Orioles are gassed after a long weekend with the and so if the Astros could pull off a sweep of the Orioles. That changes everything when it comes to the Rays and the division.

[00:06:35] Mat Germain: I wouldn't count out, I know that the feelings from the Rays side of things was like, Oh, we missed out on a huge opportunity. But it wasn't the only opportunity. If the Rays get hot enough, especially against the Angels and are able to sweep it and then the Orioles get swept it even if they lose two of three, then all of a sudden the rays are back in it and it's an edge to edge sort of thing.

[00:07:01] Mat Germain: And I would love to see that because I think they both those teams deserve it. They both earned it all year long. They deserve to have that attention drawn on them. And I think there's there's a lot to say about playing for something towards the end when you get in the close of the playoffs and then translating into the playoffs so you're at your best of your game.

[00:07:23] Mark Corbett: I am excited to see where this is all going. I want to talk more obviously about the Orioles and Rays, but let's jump to the National League for a moment and seeing how things are going with them. It's been interesting to watch the Braves because they've just left up above everybody. They're at 96 wins, a 644 win percentage.

[00:07:42] Mark Corbett: Boom. They're right there. The Phillies here behind them are 15 games back. You look to NL central and you see the Brewers, they only have 84 wins and beneath them, the Cubbies at 78 and the Reds at 78. Wow. You go down to the NL West, the Dodgers are going to take that with 91 wins, but the Diamondbacks have 79.

[00:08:06] Mark Corbett: So let's take a look then. You got Diamondbacks with 79 wins Cubs Reds with 78, and the Phillies with 81. So it seems like the Phillies are going to be there, and then what? Between Cubs, Reds, and Diamondbacks, I don't know. We'll just have to see how those play 

[00:08:26] Mat Germain: out. But let me ask you a question.

[00:08:28] Mat Germain: We know that the playoffs are a new season, right? You get in the playoffs and then it's all about the three top starters you can put out there and the rest producing enough to maintain whatever those people do. So if you were a betting person and you were forced to bet only on the starters, Would you choose the Brewer starters or the Brave starters?

[00:08:51] Mark Corbett: I'd go with the Braves. Really? 

[00:08:53] Mat Germain: Yeah. I'm I still think I'd go Brewers if they're at their best. Because to me, I look at Corbin Burns, I look at Peralta, I look at the the return of their other ace is what I call them. You've got three really tough guys. I know the Braves, if you're counting on Charlie Morton to be the playoff Charlie Morton, that's definitely a huge thing.

[00:09:22] Mat Germain: But, I don't know, just when I omit the lineups, right? I just say... Based on the pitching, I would still give that edge to the brewers. Now, if they don't, then they're in trouble. I don't think their lineup is going to produce a huge amount, but yeah. 

[00:09:41] Mark Corbett: If you look at current history, you're really there because I have been watching the Braves over the last week and I was like, okay the Braves lost Friday, they lost to the Marlins nine to six Saturday.

[00:09:57] Mark Corbett: They lost to the Marlins 11 to 5 yesterday. They lost to the Marlins 16 to 2. Hello. Right now. They're playing the bottom of the fourth. They're playing the Phillies, and the Phillies are ahead 4 1. None of these things sound like reasons to have, to see a strong Braves in the postseason. I don't know.

[00:10:24] Mark Corbett: There's merit. There's merit to what you say. 

[00:10:27] Mat Germain: So I, I always like to pair them up and say, okay, this guy against this guy, that guy against that guy. So when I look at the Braves and Brewers, I say, okay, from the month of August onwards, Freddy Peralta and Spencer Strider are about the same value in terms of what, how they've performed being ace caliber guys.

[00:10:46] Mat Germain: If I were those teams, that's who I would throw in the first game. So then you have Max Freed against Corbin Burns. And I'm like, okay that's also a fair Match, but I would give the Corbin Burns the edge personally. Especially in big games, I think he has a little bit more moxie to him than Max Fried does.

[00:11:05] Mat Germain: But Max is solid as well, so there, it's like a, an edge thing. It's a prefer who do you prefer sort of thing. But then you would have maybe Charlie Morton go up, right? And that's where the argument can become in terms of on the brewer's side of things is who's going to hold the fort after those top two guys.

[00:11:24] Mat Germain: And who are they going to give it to? And are they comfortable with what they have? With Brandon Woodruff, is he at his best? Is he still finding his way back? And in my opinion, he's back. So if that's the case, Because of the youth and not having as many innings pitch on his arm this year, I think he's fresher.

[00:11:44] Mat Germain: So I give them the slight edge a little bit and I'm like, okay, then you're just talking about depending on when they meet also. I'm guessing that they're going to be in a seven game series or, a lengthy one. It's one of those interesting questions. Cause you get everybody has their preferences.

[00:12:03] Mat Germain: And I think when you look at Adrian Hauser as the pot potential fourth, that gives the brewers an edge, I think over what the Braves have to offer. So I give them the edge just on pitching. Lineup wise, by far the Braves are it's not even a contest. I do think the Brewers adding Josh Donaldson gives them a little bit more of a.

[00:12:26] Mat Germain: He, could he get timely hits in the playoffs? I think he could, assuming that this calf issue he's always had holds up. But I think that to me, that's the way I see the playoffs rounding out. I think right now would be the Braves and Brewers on one side and the Rays. And That's a good question.

[00:12:48] Mat Germain: Who's

[00:12:52] Mat Germain: on the other side? I don't 

[00:12:53] Mark Corbett: know. It's going to be an interesting postseason. There's no doubt about that. Let me ask you one more thing. We're talking about the Brewers and the Braves. As far as, I don't know enough on this one, so I'm going to ask your help. The depth on the bullpen for both of those.

[00:13:07] Mark Corbett: Which one has the strongest bullpen? 

[00:13:10] Mat Germain: So the Braves did something very interesting and they threw a lot of darts out and they brought in guys like Nick Anderson and all the they spread a wide net is what I would say in terms of the trying to build something that would be resembling A powerhouse for the end of the season now, whether or not those guys are fresh.

[00:13:35] Mat Germain: I can't really tell you, cause I think you do have to pay attention to how guys look at the end of the season. Not just that their overall stats for the year. And a lot of people get into that trap, in terms of, Oh, look at this guy for the year. He's been that yeah, but what's he been like since August 1st.

[00:13:52] Mat Germain: That's when you can really tell whether or not a guy is on. If you look at the race, for example, if you only watched Colin Pache through June, you might've not have been a fan if you've watched him all year round and you've seen the way he's looked at the end of the year, then you're like, He's one of the best guys you want on the mound right now.

[00:14:15] Mat Germain: So when I think of the Braves and the Brewers, I think they're both in good shape and I don't think one has a clear edge per se. What I would say is that the way they're used and when the triggers are pulled probably gives one team the edge over the other more than anything else. So it's based on the managers.

[00:14:36] Mat Germain: I think Craig council is very smart in how he uses his personnel. But I don't think either one has an edge to be quite honest. So I would make it even. 

[00:14:49] Mark Corbett: Thanks for that. Cause I didn't have enough depth on their bullpens to say much of anything about that. But coming back to the Rays and Orioles, I said, you and I had talked about this where I had a good fortune of actually going up to Baltimore and Camden yards and seeing a couple of games the head of the four game series, Thursday through Sunday, and.

[00:15:13] Mark Corbett: It was interesting to begin with. I gotta tell you, Karen and I, we got there, we flew up Thursday morning and Friday morning rather. And we got everything unpacked, headed to the stadium, had the gear on. You got to represent. I was not. Ready for the booze, but as I walked into the stadium giant, they'll manage it.

[00:15:34] Mark Corbett: I got the TV ad, the big TV shirt on there, but it wasn't like several people, but there were spots for people like point and say boo. OK, dude. Oh, but I said, passionate fans. And the that particular game. Yeah, that particular game, they had 47, 000 people. They had, I think it was 47, 43, whatever capacity was, is where they were at.

[00:16:01] Mark Corbett: And it was huge. It was like walking through, oh, I guess a construction zone on the interstate. There's nothing but little orange pylons everywhere, but seeing all that orange, we couldn't, blinded by it. My mind couldn't even conceive of another color with all that orange. Scary. Scary. 

[00:16:22] Mat Germain: Yeah, that reminds me of when I used to go to the watch the Boston Bruins and they used to only have condiments that were yellow because they wanted everything black and yellow and the seats were yellow.

[00:16:38] Mat Germain: All the jerseys were black and yellow. You felt like you were just drowning in it. So that's awesome though. That's real fandom and it's good. As long as it's clean. 

[00:16:50] Mark Corbett: And that is, it was a nice clean place. The Udall street was neat to look and go down. I don't know what is in expecting maybe more of a a Louisiana, new Orleans vibe down Utah street, but it was really cool.

[00:17:04] Mark Corbett: The people were wild and all were very nice. And then like most ball fields the food was expensive. I thought I was at an airport, it cost so much, but it was fun and quickly going to that food thing. I noticed when I was at Fenway, I was surprised their prices were much more, oh, much less than what I was finding a lot of other ballparks.

[00:17:25] Mark Corbett: Like I said, not something I normally reach. 

[00:17:28] Mat Germain: I love it. And it's the good stuff. It's like the hot nuts. It's the yeah, I don't know the fries and the popcorn and everything else, the Cracker Jacks, that everything has the old school kind of baseball field, which I love. I don't know.

[00:17:46] Mat Germain: You want to be able to buy it and you want to be able to have the traditionals, right? 

[00:17:50] Mark Corbett: Exactly. And that's what. Baseball's all about is color and things being different than you talk about diversity point from park to park, from fan to fan, you're going to find something different, whether it's the depth of left field or the mascot or just the manager, there's always going to be a something that's colorful, unique to each one of those teams.

[00:18:13] Mark Corbett: It was, like I said, I hadn't been there before. So it was interesting me watching those hits going out to left field, knowing if they hit that wall back there. It would have probably been a home run a couple of years ago. 

[00:18:26] Mat Germain: Yeah. Yeah. I know. And it's funny because you mentioned that when I went there and I was there for the last weekend Jeter played in Baltimore and I was actually sitting in one, I went to all three games and I was sitting right where the seats they took out for one of those games.

[00:18:44] Mat Germain: And I remember because I sat down and I was squeezed in between two Jays fans.

[00:18:52] Mat Germain: It was pretty funny to all of a sudden be be getting haggled by all the Baltimore fans, but I had two Jays fans to blame instead. 

[00:19:04] Mark Corbett: Nice buffer. Oh, but taking a look at some of the games here though, like We've got such talent pitching. I've always been a little hesitant about Aaron Savalle.

[00:19:16] Mark Corbett: I thought, yeah, he's good. And he's real good other days and others not so much, but he was facing off against Kyle Braddish on that first game with the Orioles, but I got to tell you the highlights for me too, is looking at the youth of that Orioles team out there. Seeing people like Ryan O'Hearn and Gunnar Henderson putting up their home runs out there and then also seeing.

[00:19:37] Mark Corbett: Another key part of that game was looking at the raise with Stevenson, he got his 400th career strikeout during that game. There's always something to find at a game besides the final score to to entertain yourself with. 

[00:19:53] Mat Germain: It's true. Like I know right now I'm sitting on a Yandy Diaz, his next double puts him within, I think it's in the top 10.

[00:20:05] Mat Germain: I think he's 10th right now. It'll put him ninth. And then he also is what, six hits away from being in the top seven when it comes to hits for, as a rate. So he'll be just behind is it Kevin Kiermaier, I think. So there's a bunch of I think didn't Brandon Lau just have a milestone as well with Yeah, let's see.

[00:20:31] Mat Germain: I can't remember what it was. He did. He just had one. So there's always milestones and things that you look for, because I don't, I think what's hit me more this year than any other year was how long Diaz has been with the raise. Now, it seems like just yesterday he was traded for Bowers, but really it's been long enough that he's starting to creep up into the upper echelon of raised lore when it comes to.

[00:20:57] Mat Germain: Certain statistics. So I don't know if he'll end up playing out the entire contract that he signed with the race, but I I feel like I want to see that and see where he gets over that that period of time 

[00:21:10] Mark Corbett: as a Ray. The guy sitting next to me during the Saturday game, he said who is your favorite person on the, player on the Orioles?

[00:21:21] Mark Corbett: I said that's Cedric Mullins. I said, simply because it's historical, okay? There's probably a lot of these other young ones I like, but there's something about a guy who's been there for a while, because you were talking about Yandi, and he asked me, he said who's your favorite Ray? And I had no hesitation to say Yandy Diaz, I said Randy for color.

[00:21:39] Mark Corbett: If I just want to say color with the team, I said, what that man does, the entertainment value and everything else he brings. I said that he said I thought you'd say something about those two lows. I said, they're both very well, but I said, there's nobody really overall for the time that he's been there has the plate discipline that man has.

[00:21:56] Mark Corbett: He gets on base for a reason. He makes sure he'll walk, he'll take a walk. I don't think he wants to, but he'll take a walk and I've got a lot of respect for him for that. 

[00:22:06] Mat Germain: It's funny when you ask that because I was thinking the exact same thing when when he announced the stadium, the first autoMatic thing I think of is, okay, now you're a race fan.

[00:22:18] Mat Germain: You can go out and confidently spend money on a Jersey. And I was like, okay, who's Jersey? Would I buy right now if I if I had to, and that says a lot, right? That pretty much means, okay, if I'm buying this guy's jersey, it's because not only am I a fan, but I'm also pretty positive he'll be there for a lengthy period of time.

[00:22:39] Mat Germain: And to me right now, I think I would lean more towards Isak Paredes than anybody else. I know Josh Lowe is young, controllable, plays solidly, and he has that kind of Personality that the raised are attracted to because he's a team player supports. Everybody is very Cohesive so I could go that way as well.

[00:23:03] Mat Germain: But if I was to buy a jersey right now I think I would go with these operators because I think he can reach another level and become elite Across the league to the point where he's one of the top three third baseman in the league in all facets not just you know not maybe not in speed, but when I say all facets defensively and offensively where everything he does look smooth at his plate discipline has the potential to be like Diaz, but with the ability to draw more power out of it as well, to the point where the production he's going to put up when he's in his prime, like three years from now is going to be ridiculous.

[00:23:42] Mat Germain: So I think that's he's probably one of the most underrated players in the league right now, in my opinion for many different reasons. But another one is that he's so calm and he does the same thing every game and he does what you're going to get out of the sock parade is every time he's there.

[00:23:58] Mat Germain: I don't know. The personality thing is very interesting because Randy or Rosalina. Brings a lot of positive energy and energy in general to the rays. Like he gives them that, that identity that a lot of teams might be missing. If I told you on the Marlins right now, who's the Randy or Rosalina on that team, it'd probably be like jazz Chisholm, right?

[00:24:22] Mat Germain: Somebody with the flair, somebody with that's unique. Talks to the fans. He's boisterous. He's, he isn't shy. I think it's important to have a variety of personalities on the team. That's what the race strength is right now. They have variety. They have, everybody will have a favorite player.

[00:24:43] Mat Germain: Probably all will be different, but all for great reasons. And that just means you have a great. Team to cheer for, 

[00:24:49] Mark Corbett: which is a great thing. As you were saying, personally, it's definitely make a difference. And Randy, it was fun to watch him. He was interacting with the fans out there in Baltimore.

[00:24:59] Mark Corbett: He was there before the game or even during the game people creeping up next to the dugout and getting him to sad things. And man, it's always he's got like a smile on his face, but then you were talking about ESOC. ESOC is the quiet guy. And I think. Felt that same way about Yandi long ago.

[00:25:17] Mark Corbett: That's why I feel like a lot of times Yandi and Isak were not necessarily being hyped up with the media because they are so quiet. They quietly get there the advance the number of times they're on base, et cetera. And if they don't have a lot of color, they don't make the news and suddenly says, wait a minute I'm seeing these numbers come up from somewhere.

[00:25:38] Mark Corbett: Who is this person? There you go. Oh, but yeah, you know what? Game two, that was the first night Karen, I went and. But that was a fun one, man. Rays beating the Orioles 7 1. Wow. At the beginning of this year, when I went to the Rays Fan Fest, I said, Who's that dude guy and his wife walking that small child around?

[00:26:02] Mark Corbett: Oh, that's Zac Eflin. Oh, he's the new, yeah. Wow. Zac just completely was crazy that night. He, what, I think he threw 84 pitches in seven innings. Sexy strikes. That man was on fire. He was just amazing to see the kind of talent that he has and what he was bringing out there. 

[00:26:28] Mat Germain: If you look at this season in complete to this point, he is the most important raised player overall.

[00:26:37] Mat Germain: He's been the steady force. He's been there every fifth game. He's in my opinion, he's in PSI contention. So he's like within a top five he's going to get PSI votes. He's got the most wins. He's got the most, not only wins, but he also has the most games where he's eligible for the win. If, cause he threw enough innings.

[00:26:59] Mat Germain: So there's no other pitcher in the American League that's actually qualified as many times as he has. And I think there's been very few clunkers, even when he's off his game, he still keeps the Raze within that game. And there's something to be said too about the attitude and the confidence and the honesty with which he speaks when you hear him being interviewed.

[00:27:23] Mat Germain: And yeah, I didn't have anything today. I completely sucked. I'm surprised I got off the mountain in that inning or whatever. But it's also great to see the love he has for the team, the appreciation franchise, the pride for that franchise. I tweeted after that game that I think if you tell me that he's going to play out his career with the Rays and he's going to become their pitching coach.

[00:27:45] Mat Germain: I think that is perfectly feasible. And I would actually promote that as a possibility to him in the future. If he does stay healthy enough to get him there. But that's exactly the kind of player the Rays need and should keep long term. 

[00:28:01] Mark Corbett: It was amazing to watch him do that, I have to tell you.

[00:28:05] Mark Corbett: And you're talking about the type of player he is, the energy he has, his self effacing. What was it he said in one of the games? Recently he said, yeah, I felt like I was standing naked on an island with no sense of what was going on around me. It's jeez! That's sick! Ha! 

[00:28:22] Mat Germain: I love it. It's awesome.

[00:28:23] Mat Germain: It's a soundbite forever. 

[00:28:25] Mark Corbett: Yeah, absolutely. And I like the idea that Zach actually hails from Orlando just down the road. So he grew up watching the Rays. The Rays have only been around now for what, 25 years. So they're at that age where children who watch them can actually be on the team now that are as adults.

[00:28:46] Mark Corbett: This is pretty cool. That's it. 

[00:28:48] Mat Germain: Yeah. That was. Shane McClanahan would be in the same kind of boat where he's young enough to have grown up that way. Florida's a strong enough baseball state where you have to imagine that a lot of them are growing up Razor Marlins fans for sure.

[00:29:05] Mat Germain: Or they adopt one of the spring affiliates or spring, Spring locations and that team could happen, but yeah, that's the one sad thing I will say about the stadium that I tweeted out earlier today. I was in part hoping that the Rays would go to the Tampa side because I wanted. That Yankees affiliate out of Tampa, I would have forced them out.

[00:29:31] Mat Germain: There's a rule in Major League Baseball where you can't have an affiliate within a certain number of miles. So now, because they're going to be in St. Pete, that's they're going to get to stay there, which I think is a thorn in the Ray's side forever. Yeah. 

[00:29:47] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I can tell you being down here, I've been over to the.

[00:29:51] Mark Corbett: George Steinbrenner Stadium over there. And it's, I'd love to see that as a facility for the Rays, or at least a location for the Rays. Being over working in Ybor with the museum, the baseball museum too. It's just, that's where you're talking about early on, putting it over there in Ybor, downtown. And, I'm hoping and praying with this new stadium and when they get this thing that they've got something figured out on people getting there and parking because it is an absolute beast that's another thing.

[00:30:26] Mark Corbett: I'll say about Baltimore. I was we uber to the stadium. Actually, we didn't do, but we were, we walked, but I didn't really see. Parking around there, but it also seemed to a steady flow of people coming in and out of the place. They had things worked out there. I'd like to sit down with a plan of both places of what, like what Camden Yards, because it seems like they're doing so many things right.

[00:30:49] Mark Corbett: And say, Hey, if all of this works here, what can you take and transpose that into Tampa that will make a better fan experience for the race. 

[00:31:00] Mat Germain: That's three big questions that I have. Four big questions I have about the stadium in general is first, are they going to have any natural light?

[00:31:07] Mat Germain: Or is it going to be some sort of fade, right? Where you don't really see this guy? Or. And number two, what is the governor of Florida going to do to get in the way, if anything, . Yep. That's my second one, which ties into a lot what you're talking about, because to me this is a development.

[00:31:28] Mat Germain: It's not just about the race. It's about developing that entire area. So in my opinion, I hope when they announced this, that they say, yes, there will be transportation issues addressed and we have a plan. And I would hope that Stu wanted that as part of the. As part of the assurances yeah, I also think the multi use aspect of everything is going to be a big part and it's going to play and that's what the last thing I'm looking for is whether or not it'll be usable as a soccer stadium, how many bars and restaurants are going to be open all year round and not just when the Rays are playing because to me, if you're putting a restaurant in a stadium, why do you lock it up and close it like when the games aren't on just Have it to the outside and keep those restaurants going all year round, but hopefully the plans that they have in place makes sense and I would imagine if they're spending 1.

[00:32:27] Mat Germain: 2 to 1. 5 billion on this place, that it's going to have some sensible decisions made, you would hope. 

[00:32:34] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I hope I do hope it's the case as well. So there's lessons to be learned from a lot of the different stadiums and I'm sure that. Stu and company are putting in a place. God knows they've had enough time to think about this.

[00:32:48] Mark Corbett: Alrighty. I'll tell you what, we're going to go ahead and do a little trick of the different games this past week with Orioles. Game three. Now, this is the one where you were, not asking, you were talking about Brandon. And was it Saturday? Yeah. Brandon Lau. He had his 500th game. It's 500 career game on Saturday.

[00:33:10] Mark Corbett: I don't know if that was the stats you were thinking about, but it's off of, I think it was off the home run. Might have been, I don't know, but the, that game was very frustrating because it's one of those things where there isn't much Tyler can do when he doesn't have all his secondaries. And he doesn't have many.

[00:33:36] Mat Germain: So if they're not working, he's in trouble and we've seen his fastball hit well enough that he can't really. Hide from his secondaries anymore. He has to have the feel for them or Rousey's and the world are hurt. Still made it through four, but I think the game was pretty much punted by then.

[00:33:54] Mat Germain: So I'm sure those are, that's one of those games that you sit through and in Baltimore and you're like, ah, I think you just want to move on to the next game. 

[00:34:05] Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh. Yes. I cannot tell you how difficult what it was to watch last now. Just some wild pitches. It didn't seem like he had his control and they had a camera shot of his face after he just looked completely distraught after somebody to get a hit off of him.

[00:34:24] Mark Corbett: And it was not going to be his night. You knew early on, said, yeah, come on, let's turn it around. Let's turn it around. But being a fan of the game itself, instead of just being a fan of the race, it was magnificent to watch. Grayson Rodriguez pitch for the Orioles. Yeah. Gosh, eight scoreless innings.

[00:34:48] Mark Corbett: But Matt, the speed that man was able to channel over and over consistently, and by the same time, also being able to put that ball exactly where he wanted it, those speeds, it was just numbing. My eyes would go up to the screen each time to see, oh, 98, 99, 100, okay. He was staying up there with each one of those pitches.

[00:35:10] Mark Corbett: Bam. It was just, there's a reason that we lost the Orioles eight to zero. And that man was a big part of it. 

[00:35:22] Mat Germain: So I just want to paint a picture based on that game, right? And then what we saw later on as well. But let's say you're the Yankees, right? And you know what you have in house.

[00:35:32] Mat Germain: And you're sitting there and you're watching the Orioles trot out Grayson Rodriguez. And then they have kicking things off Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, right? So you're talking about future all star catcher, shortstop and ace. And then you're looking at your roster and you've got Jerick Cole costing you a God knows what and he has an opt out.

[00:35:59] Mat Germain: So he's going to cost you what God knows what until he's 39 now, because you're going to have to pick that up. They have a clause where they can, he can opt out or try to opt out. And then they say no, you're staying with us, but we'll give you an extra year. It's in this contract. So then they're 39, which is going to cost them.

[00:36:16] Mat Germain: He's going to break down at some point, right? And then you look at their catcher situation, you look at their shortstop situation, you're like, they're not even in the same tier. No. They're two tiers of hurt, if anything. And then you talk about who's coming behind them and we know who that is, right?

[00:36:33] Mat Germain: And so they have the best prospect in baseball coming behind them, who is going to either force Gunner Henderson to third base, or he's gonna move into sho to third base himself. So I don't know when you look at this weekend, that's what I was looking at because the rays were trotting out four to five players each night that were from their double their triple a roster.

[00:36:58] Mat Germain: So to me, it was a half and half roster was half rates like regulars and half of it being triple A players. So they weren't even using their full. What I would call ammunition that they could, they were resting guys that guys on IL there was a issues there, but you still look at those two teams and you're all putting up great outbats.

[00:37:19] Mat Germain: They all had great youth control. They're sticking around for a while. So if you're like the other teams that are out there, the Red Sox, the Yankees, even the Jays to a degree, because they're getting older, they got contracts ending. It's just one of those weekends that made you see the next three to four years are just these two teams.

[00:37:41] Mat Germain: There's no contest, really, in the AL East. And it's a beautiful thing to see, because if you've lived through years like we have, or decades of Red Sox and Yankees at the top, to me, this was the weekend of, ah, we're in September, late in September, watching. Something else that Matters than the Yankees and freaking Red Sox.

[00:38:01] Mark Corbett: Thank you, brother. He's, oh, that's, I loved it. I just, I ate it up. Like you said, it's about the game, not about the the outcome. It was I really did enjoy watching the game. It hurt. It was great to see. Let's see what we got here. Any notes from the folks at Baltimore said Rodriguez improved to six, four in the season after working a career high eight scoreless innings on five hits and seven strikes out.

[00:38:31] Mark Corbett: He fanned Curtis Meade on a 100 mile or a fastball, the second inning, the second fastest strikeout by an old starter in the stack gas area. Era, excuse me since 2000, he owns top four spots in 10 to the 11th, 11 fastest punch out pitches in this period. Holy sheesh. His 117 strikeouts this season are the 10th most by an O's rookie and most since John means fan to 121 banners in 2019 at 23 years of age, he'll be 24.

[00:39:05] Mark Corbett: For man, here's the 

[00:39:06] Mat Germain: daylights out of me, though, in a way, because I think back to when Shane McClanahan first came up with the raise and that's what he was doing. He was doing the same exact thing. And where is he now? To me, I watched him really dominate through the first half of the game.

[00:39:24] Mat Germain: And it was a complete contrast of, okay, Tyler Glasnow has learned that you can't go out there and throw 101, 102 and do it consistently and stay healthy. On the other side, you had the guy who's still going to learn that at some point. And he was gunning, like you said, 97, 98, almost every pitch. He was barely using his secondaries until he got to the third inning, fourth inning.

[00:39:48] Mat Germain: So that's a lot of pitches at that speed over and over again. That torque on that arm is, it's just, I feel like if they're not able to get him the confidence they need in the secondaries to ease the wear and tear on his arm, it's going to be a disaster at some point within the next two years.

[00:40:09] Mat Germain: And he's just going to break down like all young pitchers seem to do at this point. It might be really bad timing for the Orioles if they're in a position we think they're going to be in. 

[00:40:19] Mark Corbett: I hope the Orioles manager, Brandon had, and the front office, thanks about that. Because what you said is absolutely true.

[00:40:27] Mark Corbett: Like you said, you could compare mound to mound, whether it was looking at glass now that night at Rodriguez and saying, this could be you, this could be a mirror into the future. I said as much to the gentleman sitting next to me, the always fan at the game, I said, they need to make sure they take care of that arm.

[00:40:46] Mark Corbett: And. It's crazy. Here's where we find the stat you were looking for. I think on game four, what happened then? There's something with, I know there's something with Brandon that day, I'll dig it out a bit here. See, I believe I can't remember it. He slugged his 21st home run of the season in the first inning.

[00:41:05] Mark Corbett: He marked the 105th Homer of his career, surpassing Carl Crawford for sole position of sixth place on the raise all time home run list. That's why I couldn't remember it. Oh. He's marked his 202nd career base extra hit. Extra base hit rather. Tying him with Fred McGriff for 8th most in team history since 1998.

[00:41:33] Mark Corbett: Woof! Sunday, I didn't stick around to see this game. I was constantly checking my phone and geez, my knees. I thought we have to win this. So we're going to witness and it's just moved on and on. 11 innings and we lose five to four to the Orioles. That was a hard one to watch. The most 

[00:41:57] Mat Germain: frustrating part of that game to me, and I was sitting there going, why are we doing this right now?

[00:42:02] Mat Germain: Because Pete Fairbanks has had touch and feel issues You know because of the condition he has so the longer he's out there even if he's throwing a long inning he tends to lose the feel and on the tips of his fingers and So to see Kevin Cash use him for a second inning for the first time of the year in September against the Orioles To me is baffling, especially when you have a healthy, strong, dominant Sean Armstrong sitting on the bench.

[00:42:32] Mat Germain: There, those are the kinds of decisions that still make me question whether or not Kevin Cash can get the Rays through to the World Series and win it. I don't know. Because there are certain things that he does. That are baffling. And I don't know who's recommending him. I don't know why he goes there.

[00:42:54] Mat Germain: Why he changes the program. The pen hadn't given up runs in forever. And I love the decisions he made before that. Having Robert Stevenson out there first because of where they were in the lineup made complete sense. Having everything lined up after that was perfect. All he had to do was call Sean Armstrong on for the night instead of going back to Pete.

[00:43:15] Mat Germain: That's the part that I really don't understand. And then pitching to Adley is an arguable one. They'd had some success against him before in the series, but to me, he's one of the few guys that seemed to be really getting into him. Him and Gunnar just were like, okay, if you have first base open and it can add an out option when you're Pitching to the next guy and Santander has been really struggling against the Rays.

[00:43:41] Mat Germain: So I thought those were the two mistakes where the Rays could have won the game. And if they had won the game, it would have given them 11 and 6 record for September instead of a 10 and 7. Yeah, occurred for September. And to me, that goes a huge way, not the end of the world. Hopefully it's a lesson learned and they look back on it afterwards.

[00:43:59] Mat Germain: Go. Yeah, maybe we shouldn't have done that. I'm just more hoping that it didn't do any damage to Pete. And that his finger issue doesn't get aggravated from it. And then he's good to go for the playoffs. More than likely they were like, we have an off day tomorrow anyway, first one they've had since August 31st and they were like, okay, we can, we know we can rest everybody, so we're going to go for it and have them out there again.

[00:44:23] Mat Germain: But I still think there's one thing you don't want to burn out at the end of the season. It's your top back end guys in the pen. So I think I would have done it another way. 

[00:44:36] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I was a little surprised to keep him peed out there for two innings. And he had a couple of days of rest, but still two innings is a lot to ask him.

[00:44:45] Mark Corbett: I look at him and I say, that's this, the one ending assassin, you put him out there and he kills it then. And if there's, we know the cold weather is not his friend, but still it didn't work out. So I'm glad they got the day off, Matt. I'm looking at this, like you said, the angels coming up. That's interesting.

[00:45:05] Mark Corbett: What we got three games. They're going to be here for three games. Let's talk a little bit about this earlier and then the Blue Jays, you're going to be here for one, two, three games as well. What do you think it's like being an angel right now? Ohtani not even sitting on the bench? I 

[00:45:22] Mat Germain: look at if i'm a player on the angels I think wow i'm gonna have every opportunity in the world to show what I have and earn an MLB reputation, but I think The owner has a lot of looking in a mirror to do and deciding what he wants to do going forward.

[00:45:40] Mat Germain: I think like their fans are probably split half and half, right? Half probably appreciate the fact that they went for it. They didn't sell out and they'll use that as a. A reason to love and support the owner and the team The other half will be like this is never ending This is ridiculous and I want to I want a new owner no Matter what I feel for the team.

[00:46:03] Mat Germain: I feel for the fans I feel for my trout who's dealing with his own health issues and now honey with his own health issues I really hope that you know when they do Trade my trout and I think it is going to happen at some point. I don't know how much they'll be able to get for them but they need to have a completely new scouting and evaluation staff that they actually listen to.

[00:46:32] Mat Germain: I I don't know. Where the disconnect is and I know even Perry Mnagian has made some really baffling, moves I get where they were going with things trying to deepen the roster and get guys that can do key things And they've tried a lot of different things But the one thing they never tried was going after the top pitcher in any free agent class like why not?

[00:46:56] Mat Germain: Yeah way back when it started like this is not new. This is eight years ago. You're talking, you know over and over again they completely ignored I think even during when jared cole was a free agent I was screaming for them to sign him and he ended up going to the yankees I said he made way more sense for the angels way even back then so imagine if something like that had happened where they signed jared cole instead of going after I don't know, Anthony Randone or whoever else they ended up signing.

[00:47:25] Mat Germain: It's ridiculous. It's that organization has an ownership problem and it happens in a lot of different sports where they get a little bit too involved or I don't know who's advising them, but and it. It's one of those things where you feel for the fans most and some of the players in their careers.

[00:47:46] Mat Germain: Because it is it's a big thing. I remember as a hockey fan, Ray Bork being an example of Mike Trout, right? Where he was on a really terrible team for a long time. And then they were competitive here and there. They made the playoffs once in a while. But I think people forget how terrible the Boston Bruins were for a long time.

[00:48:06] Mat Germain: And then finally he got traded to the Colorado Avalanche and ended up going to win a Stanley cup with Patrick Waugh over there and watching him lift that cup and a smile on his face and that achievement being so huge to a guy who had done everything right in his whole career, but just never been able to reach that.

[00:48:24] Mat Germain: That's what I want for Mike Trout. I want him to get that chance. I don't know if it's in Philly or somewhere else, but I hope he's healthy enough to get to that point with another team. It's not going to be with the Angels. I think the Angels are in a seven to eight year rebuild, to be quite honest. Unless somebody, something surprises from what they have, cause they have no system.

[00:48:45] Mat Germain: They basically, like I could put. Every single player from the Charleston Riverdogs and ranked above anything they have in their system. It's insane how thin they are overall. Wow, Matt. A little love, buddy. 

[00:49:05] Mat Germain: I laugh when I see their system, and I think they're a baseball team in the major leagues.

[00:49:09] Mat Germain: Really? Like, how did you get to this point? So I know I'm being harsh, but it's true. You can go through all their players, their prospects, they're guys you would never even pick up if they were on waivers for the most part. You just wouldn't. The Rays don't have space for any of them. I don't know.

[00:49:30] Mat Germain: I don't know what you do. How do you start? Even internationally, let's say you wanted to build through the international program. Who have they ever signed on the international market that would tell you they have the scouts over there to actually do that? They don't. They have to build it from scratch.

[00:49:47] Mat Germain: So I don't know, like the Orioles learned that recently, right? They started amping up their international scouting and signing some guys. The angels still haven't they don't do it. So I don't know how you rebuild the, they would, they need to find somebody that's like Alex and thoughtless and we'll actually rebuild.

[00:50:07] Mat Germain: Their entire organization scouting like he did in Toronto when Alex and thoughtless went into Toronto, he rebuilt exactly how all their scouting happened. He had central guys. He had everybody piecemealed and a lot better fashion, a lot more of them. And he picked the best paid the more so that they would have the best of them all.

[00:50:28] Mat Germain: And it changed that entire organization for years. They dismantled it a little bit since, but I think that's what they need. They need somebody to go in there and clean house. I don't know who they get to do it. I think High 

[00:50:39] Mark Corbett: and Bloom is available. 

[00:50:41] Mat Germain: Yeah, it's not a bad idea that actually, you know what?

[00:50:44] Mat Germain: He's probably learned a lot of lessons. He's motivated to prove himself. And if he has somebody if they're willing to be patient with what he's going to build over there I, that's a really good point. I think that would be a really 

[00:50:57] Mark Corbett: great move, Mark. Think about they brought him in at the Red Sox and they knew they wanted him to make unpopular decisions and whether a Mookie and David Price, they, those were decisions that they said we're not going to do this.

[00:51:12] Mark Corbett: Let's bring a new guy in. He can take all the stigma that comes with this and be like, you're saying, if you need somebody to upset the apple carton and trying to get to the future, maybe he's the guy. I don't know. I wish him well, but your point to your point on Mike Trout. Yes. I want to see the man on a team that can win the division can win the pennant go to a world series.

[00:51:37] Mark Corbett: He's an athlete who has given so much to the game, but he's with a team that's just not going to go there with the management style they have. And. Matt, I truly believe Major League Baseball should have to have mandatory counseling for owners who can't seem to tell their one end from the other.

[00:51:56] Mark Corbett: They gotta find some way to guide these through a business 101 class or something, cause you see the decisions that they make. And obviously I'm not sitting in the back room with whatever, dartboard for a decision.

[00:52:14] Mat Germain: Yeah, and they're not alone, right? There's other, I know we, we talk a lot about them and I think we're all frustrated about it because we all wanted to see Mike Trout and I think that's the attraction that there is to that conversation for the angels side of things, but there's other organizations that have been terrible for just as long.

[00:52:30] Mat Germain: Like you look at what the Blue Jays are going through. Yes, they've been in the playoffs a few times here and there, but with the amount of money and resources that they've thrown at things they lived through a decade of darkness under J. P. G. Ricciardi. That was ridiculous. The Marlins have had a hard time getting back in this swing of things.

[00:52:50] Mat Germain: They're starting to get there now. Yeah, I think the Pirates are finally coming out of the woods, but they had a very lengthy period of time. There are certain teams that have had to learn the hard way. I think the pirates are a good example of what the angels could do, right? Where they got Ben Charrington in there, they got a bunch of really good baseball people, and they were patient with what they were building.

[00:53:12] Mat Germain: And now you're seeing the fruits of that labor. So hopefully it's a good example for them to sell it to the owner there and get them 

[00:53:21] Mark Corbett: to change. Let's take the last final look at what's happening with the rays then. So we've got the angels. We got the blue jays twice when what's these last two weeks and the Red Sox.

[00:53:37] Mark Corbett: So looking at this with those few games. What do you think the Rays are going to be able to pull together? 

[00:53:45] Mat Germain: I can see the Rays maintaining about a 600 win record. Now, whether or not that's able to get them about let's say seven out of 11, they have left. So I think it's one of those things where is it going to be enough to get them past the Orioles?

[00:54:07] Mat Germain: I don't know. I think they're going to be a little bit more concentrated on keeping everybody healthy than trying to push for more than that. Do you think the Blue Jays always seem to have if they're going to have a bad series against the Rays once, they usually have a good series the next time.

[00:54:25] Mat Germain: So I think the two series against the Jays will balance themselves out somehow. If the Rays do end up dominating, then that's just because the Jays are putting so much pressure on themselves that they fall apart which could happen as well. You never know. 

[00:54:39] Mark Corbett: Yeah, they seem they've had some real patches this year.

[00:54:44] Mark Corbett: Exactly. Alec Mendoza had helped me on that, but 

[00:54:47] Mat Germain: let's see. And I'll be honest though, Mark, like I think playing the Wild Cards series is good for the race. I don't see it as a detriment at all. I think the baffling thing with Major League Baseball is that they've set up a system that hurts the teams that get the buys instead of helps them.

[00:55:05] Mark Corbett: This is what they're sitting on their hands or what 

[00:55:08] Mat Germain: you talk to baseball players. They get all out of sync, anything more than one day off. And they're like almost starting from scratch and if you give them three days off, four days off, all of a sudden they're lost. They don't know how to do their field is completely gone.

[00:55:24] Mat Germain: I don't say completely, but you know what I mean? There's certain things that are so habitual and so muscle memory that any sort of out of synchness just hurts them big time. I don't know. It's I'll be intrigued to see if another team can do what the Phillies did last year, because. If they do, I think it'll be a selling point for, Hey, is it so bad to play the wild card instead of not?

[00:55:48] Mark Corbett: No, not really. I'm looking forward to it either way, but I definitely see your point there. I always wonder about that too. Just sitting still waiting for something to come. But I'll come up with kind of a last post here, unless you got some other things you want to chat about. And that is, again, looking at the Stadium of the Future.

[00:56:07] Mark Corbett: Did you realize, I just came across it earlier today, that there is a special virtual game, a virtual ballpark, that fans are going to be able to participate with this Wednesday? 

[00:56:20] Mat Germain: No, I did not know that. 

[00:56:21] Mark Corbett: Okay. This is an article I'm reading from a site called Engadget and it came out last Thursday.

[00:56:31] Mark Corbett: Let's see. It's a short one. I'll read it to you. Major League Baseball is ready to test its virtual ballpark for a regular season game. Fans can enter the digital stadium on Wednesday, September 20th to watch the Tampa Bay Rays hosts the Los Angeles Angels. The league debuted the digital park earlier this summer for a celebrity softball game during the all star game activities.

[00:56:52] Mark Corbett: I haven't seen this thing yet. Next week's game will mark the first non exhibition game to deploy the metaverse. To deploy the Metaverse like Digital Park. So it's a 3D representation with on field avatars and all of that. I can't imagine what it's going to look like. I'm going to see if I can find some place to watch this because it sounds interesting as heck.

[00:57:16] Mat Germain: Yep, that definitely does sound interesting for 

[00:57:18] Mark Corbett: sure. Yeah maybe there's a few last things we can learn about a new stadium from this virtual one where they have the game coming up. Oh gosh. 

[00:57:28] Mat Germain: I've always thought this and I like the games the they show on Apple TV, right? I'm a big fan of the picture quality.

[00:57:36] Mat Germain: I don't think the, a lot of the broadcasters are always the best. ForMat, but I've always been intrigued by whether or not MLB TV should have cameras set up at key areas in the stadium where you can just watch the game, not hear anything else and be like, as if you were in that seat screen, you hear all the sounds because Apple TV does that up here in Canada.

[00:58:02] Mat Germain: I know in some areas they have ads that go on when they're in between innings. But in Canada you get just the camera stays on, you hear all the same noises as if you were sitting in that seat and the play goes on and the players are doing whatever they're doing, the grounds crews are doing whatever they're doing.

[00:58:18] Mat Germain: It's like you're at the ballpark. You don't get to talk to anybody next to you but you still get that same feel as if you're at the game, which I really like. 

[00:58:26] Mark Corbett: I enjoy it. I'm looking forward to it, my friend. I'm looking forward to this last two weeks of the games. And I dig what you're saying about the post season being in a wild card that it, it keeps the team sharp.

[00:58:40] Mark Corbett: So if we get that one position I guess we'll start the first of the two games here. And that looks like. If we are, if the Oreos do win the division, we would be the top dog as far as a wildcard to be able to have the at home advantage. So it sounds good. Definitely. 

[00:59:01] Mat Germain: I'm still curious whether or not there'll be one or two roster moves made that they tweaked here and there.

[00:59:07] Mat Germain: Like they just added Tristan Gray to the 40 man roster. Is there another one or two moves they'll do like that? It'll be 

[00:59:13] Mark Corbett: interesting. Yeah. And that's, I'm glad you brought up Tristan Gray again, because I don't think I mentioned, I don't know if we talked about it at all about his venture into the game.

[00:59:26] Mark Corbett: I think it was it on Sunday's game. While we, things didn't go well for us, he really did pretty good. He had, what, it was at his first first major league hit? 

[00:59:37] Mat Germain: It was his first start and he made a really nice defensive play early on in the game. Which was great. Then he had a really solid at bat, saw a lot of pitches showed some poise in there, being able to foul off a lot of tough ones.

[00:59:52] Mat Germain: And then he got his first major league hit and you're like, okay, now he gets to relax and I guess relax. He did cause he showed off his power in a big way, 415 foot home run to center field to at that point, put the Rays ahead by one, I thought it was huge and it showed Tristan Gray's one of those guys that has done everything right.

[01:00:14] Mat Germain: Like he, since he's gone to the race, he's gone down to Australia in the winter. He's added all those little things. He said yes. Every time they wanted to move in positions, first, second, third, short stop, he's improved his D significantly since he first got to the race overall. So when you talk about having assets that can fill the gap when Wanda Franco is out, this is why the rays are special because they have.

[01:00:41] Mat Germain: Those players, like Tristan Gray, who can come in, like Osleves Pasabe, and then both of those guys are going to be intriguing and asked about from teams like the Marlins, for instance. If they're looking for a trade and to make roster moves because of the roster crunch that happens with the Rule 5, I could see either of those guys being asked about by by the Marlins and other teams.

[01:01:04] Mark Corbett: Again, I'm glad to see people like him come up and the way he's handled himself his willingness to take whatever position and to be training off season elsewhere. I want to later on, I'm going to talk to you after the show not today, sometime soon about the Australia Australian league, because we know so many players are either evolving up to Curtis Meade are a lot of players who are going there as you mentioned in the past to during the off season to stay fresh and learn new things.

[01:01:35] Mark Corbett: So anyway, enough of all of that. Matt, is there any other final thoughts or you'd like to share with everybody? 

[01:01:44] Mat Germain: Yeah, I would just ask fan. Like I know there's a lot still, like even with the stadium announcement going on, there's still a lot of bitter Tampa side fans that wanted the stadium to be there.

[01:01:55] Mat Germain: Absolutely. No Matter what. And I would ask those fans to contact their counselors and let them have it because they are the reason that the Rays are not going to the Tampa side. If those Yankee fan counselors were not the people in the city and Tampa obviously are leaning Yankees.

[01:02:18] Mat Germain: Completely. So in my opinion, that's the only people that you're allowed to be mad at this point are the ones in charge of the coin that decided to go with the Yankees instead of the Rays, and you can point the finger at them after you're done doing that, please embrace the Rays in St. Pete. They're your team now.

[01:02:37] Mat Germain: They're not going anywhere for a quarter century. Dive in, buy some jerseys, go enjoy them a few times a year if you can afford it and support them. 

[01:02:51] Mark Corbett: Wow. That's a good attitude to take toward, and it's also good to point out again why, one of the reasons why they are not hearing to be moving to Tampa.

[01:03:03] Mark Corbett: All righty. Matt, thanks again, brother. Always glad to have you here on the show. And that's Mr. Mat Germain. That's Matt, M A T underscore Germain, G E R M A I N. So if you're looking for him, that's where you find him on Twitter at Mat underscore Jermaine underscore. Oh man. I'll tell you what. It's been another fun week.

[01:03:24] Mark Corbett: We'll have to talk again here just before post season and bang the drums and see where we're going to be. 

[01:03:30] Mat Germain: Absolutely. I'm up 

[01:03:31] Mark Corbett: for it. All right, man. Thanks again. And look forward to talking with you again real soon. Me too.

[01:03:41] Mark Corbett: Special thanks to Mat Jermaine for joining us here today. Just remember, you can find Mat on Twitter at Mat @Mat_Germain_ on Twitter you can find me mark @TheBaseballBiz on twitter and you can also find me baseball biz www dot baseball biz on deck dot com and anywhere you like on the directories whether it be apple podcast, google podcast, Spotify, etcetera.

[01:04:08] Mark Corbett: So until next time, thanks again and we look forward to talk with you again real soon. Special thanks to XTakeRux. For the music. Rocking forward.