Stu Stokes - County Votes - Where is Willy?

262 Rays Stadium Votes

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett and with me, of course, is Mr. Mat Germain how are you doing, buddy?

[00:00:13] Mat Germain: I'm doing great. Still roofless in Tampa. 

[00:00:16] Mark Corbett: Oh gosh, brother. I am telling you, I went just last week, I drove over to St. Peter and Dr. Hennessey, and it was near the trop. So I had to go over to Ferg's and I then I walked over toward the man, it was just so weird.

[00:00:35] Mark Corbett: So otherworldly. To see that frame of a roof still there, just those rings and seeing seeing a few folks just walking around up there in the rings, I had to zoom in to see them and I knew right then when they're not going to fix this right now, they're assessing. Man it's gonna, it's a different world. 

[00:00:56] Mark Corbett: And that is just such a small part of it. Around here driving over that way, just the seeds still homes had been totally to some demolished and large trees, giant trees. Must be. Three feet in diameter or more of some of these things and just that have fallen to the earth and it's sliced up and diced, but it's interesting because we're going to talk about the rays, believe it or not, folks.

[00:01:25] Mark Corbett: It's a special raise up edition of baseball biz and Matt though, during the meeting we'll be talking about the meeting of the the Pinellas County commissioners today going over some things about the raise and paperwork needs to be signed, et cetera, that's bond issues. But there was a phrase I heard today, and I think it's apropos because I think it relates both to those politicians and the raise.

[00:01:52] Mark Corbett: It's called he said hurricane brain. And some people are still in a bit of a days, I think with all this. And plus life in general has slowed down when you're trying to get reports from FEMA on your house, are just trying to make sure he's finding some housing for some folks.

[00:02:17] Mark Corbett: So it's it's, I think that in part led to some of the insanity came out in the press about the whole deal between Pinellas County and the Rays. 

[00:02:29] Mat Germain: Yeah I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that these are the kinds of times that people remember most. And if a politician were to go and favor the raise when it came to funding out of the hurricane funds the ones that can be used for anything, like I know they don't all Come out of the same pot.

[00:02:50] Mat Germain: And I think they alluded to that as well, where there's certain funding that would go would only be usable for the roof, right? And that one, I think, is in indisputable that the right way to go about it is to fix the roof. That's, I think everybody's on that page. The question is whether or not the timeline Is one that's a tenable for the raise, because I think what they're, the point they're getting to now is that the timeline just doesn't match up with what the raise want for the new stadium to be built and ready to go.

[00:03:28] Mat Germain: So they're starting to be a little bit of a clash in there, but I think all the politicians want to make sure that their constituents know that they're prioritizing them and their funding first and not. Just going to roll over and hand over 50 million for the raise because that timeline is extended.

[00:03:49] Mark Corbett: That's true. And there's a couple of things because folks, when we're talking about the Tampa Bay raise, and we're talking about the whole Agreement or disagreement, if you will, about the stadium. Everything was put together and signed in July. And that was done by the city of St. Petersburg. Now also needed the approval and buy in from the actually the Pinellas County where St.

[00:04:15] Mark Corbett: Pete sits. And that was actually done too. However. What's happened at this point is one, there's been an election, 

[00:04:24] Mark Corbett: We talked about this before they've got to get this done before the election, because you never know what the new guys are going to do. And they've got two new commissioners on the commissioners board.

[00:04:35] Mark Corbett: So is it, there's some things about getting them up to speed and getting their buy in. Because one of the, one of the new guys said the guy that was for the the race isn't sitting in this chair anymore. It's me. So it's the dynamics are there, but the bottom line is the agreement has been in place.

[00:04:57] Mark Corbett: It's just now trying to pull the trigger to get the bonds started with the the County. But the one thing I think that's almost been misplayed is everybody said we got to take care of the beaches. We got to, we got, yes, we do. Yeah. All that needs to be taken care of for the race and correct me if I'm wrong on this, Matt.

[00:05:20] Mark Corbett: We're talking about a bed tax. We're talking about every time somebody comes in to St. Pete, they come into Pinellas County, and they stay there, they're going to be paying a tax that's going to go toward the the stadium. And that money can only be used for those things. So that bed tax that you pay when you come and visit us down here, that cannot be used for Services for the, whether it be for water or it can't, it cannot be used for paying employees and it can't be used for restitution of the beaches or re nourishing the beaches.

[00:05:56] Mark Corbett: So it's not cutting into that. 

[00:05:59] Mat Germain: They explained that during the meeting where they said it has to go towards tourism or marketing for tourism, like specifically. And I'm sure there's ways to Jerry rig certain things, like if you really want it to push the limits, but then if you do that, somebody's gonna call you out on it and it's gonna get rigged back and you're gonna owe somebody else more money. 

[00:06:21] Mat Germain: It doesn't make any sense to push those limits, like you said it's such a. And I've seen this happen in government too. Like I've worked for government a lot where they have money for a building and they have the plans for a building, but there's no money left in that pot for a building, but there is one for an annex building, which costs more to build, but that pot is available to them.

[00:06:44] Mat Germain: So they build an annex one, even though it costs more and it wasn't in the original plans. So everything has to come from a certain pot of money and for the raise both for the roof roof side of things and for how the stadium is going to be funded it's pretty clear cut in terms of where the that money's going to come from.

[00:07:05] Mat Germain: And it's been agreed to by the vast majority of the people in the area. Who supported the politicians after the vote was done in St. Petersburg and back them up again. I think I can't remember the exact percentage that they said they won by, but apparently it was a landslide. Like over 80 percent support the counselors that supported that deal.

[00:07:31] Mat Germain: It's a popular deal in St. Petersburg. So there's no reason to play hard ball here, but what's happening too. And I've. I'm, I pay attention a little bit to politics as well. You had some people in there wearing the red ties and showing a little bit of their their affiliations.

[00:07:51] Mat Germain: And I want to say the Stu Sternberg hasn't always been best friends with the governor of Florida. And then there's certain things that have come out to play where Ron DeSantis actually blocked something that costs to raise millions of dollars. I can't remember exactly what it was.

[00:08:08] Mat Germain: Now it escapes me but he was supposed to be able to approve something that was in the works and he kiboshed it. So could it happen again in this case by strong arming this angle? Anything is possible. I think we've seen a lot worse in politics. 

[00:08:28] Mark Corbett: Yeah, and quite honestly, I don't think I don't think the governor's worried about that right now.

[00:08:32] Mark Corbett: He's got a couple of he's got a couple of positions. He's got to see about feeling. And yeah, you've got to wonder about personalities because a lot of even what I was hearing today. And you're hearing personalities getting in the middle of taking care of business. And that's a damn shame, but I know that happened with DeSantis and Stu a few years back, and like you, I can't remember the specifics, but I do remember that was the case. 

[00:09:00] Mark Corbett: You know what, I looked at this thing, okay, today, during the meeting, the vice chair, what's his name, Brian Scott, he holds up a newspaper. The Tampa Bay Times, and you can find their papers, actually tampabay. com, you find it there, but I don't know if you saw this part or not. And he's by the way, the press is there at this meeting and he holds up the newspaper, Tampa Bay Times, big headline, at least two inch type two inches, it says end of the stadium deal.

[00:09:39] Mark Corbett: Big time. So it, it consumes the front page of the paper. And Brian Scott is we have to combat some of the stuff that's coming out of here. And I think our good friend Colleen, must've been there because twice I saw him and I saw the chair look over in a certain direction when they said about the media.

[00:10:01] Mark Corbett: And I thought that's the publication she's with, but. It's, there's just a lot going on with personalities and cutting through the crap. And the headline he was showing us was in part because of something Lou, her good buddy, Stu had been talking about. And I guess seeing how much of a delay this was going to make and possibly they'd have to move the race because if the Pinellas commissioners didn't get on board quickly some changes were going to have to be made.

[00:10:36] Mat Germain: The timeline thing does seem to be more pushed from a raised point of view. So to me, that article can points to the fact that a lot of times Stu has spoken to people through his own connections at the times. And and I think that's a fault of theirs. I think they've manipulated the media in that form and they they're not always.

[00:11:04] Mat Germain: How would you put it? Cognizant of the impact of how they communicate on some of the people in politics in the region. Now, is it by design? Is it calculated? Is it effective? I don't know, because I don't know what their goals actually are in each instance, right? So you have to know that their business is not always straight.

[00:11:25] Mat Germain: As an arrow, there's a lot of crooked angles being played along the way to get you to that destination. So the question now is how does everybody's timeline match up? Because we all know the stadium builds can delay and delay and extend. And at some point you're, if you're sitting there with an MLB franchise, you don't have a stadium, you're playing in a minor league park. 

[00:11:53] Mat Germain: At some point you want to get going and get your ducks in a row. And so every delay is a salt in the wounds. But like I said, when you're communicating the way he is, you're just, you're bringing it on yourself. There's a good chance that if Stu Sternberg was a better communicator and was more attentive to the wants and needs of people in the region, The lease would have been torn up and they'd already be developing the site by now.

[00:12:21] Mat Germain: There's a good chance that they would be there. But it's just not the way that it is and it's not the way that he communicates. It's very antagonistic. You don't hang a sign on the trough pointing to a sister city concept without being an antagonistic person, right? And so it comes across in a lot of the way he communicates.

[00:12:45] Mat Germain: And right now he's like a little bit petulant is what I would say. 

[00:12:53] Mark Corbett: I like that. And the word that usually comes out of that is child. It I think there's a gene that once you become an owner of an MLB team, you have to go to MLB headquarters and they, Alter your DNA and it's, I don't know if it's a stupid gene or arrogant gene, but I look, I think back to Cincinnati Reds and where else you're going to go, you remember the, their owner was a Castellini saying something like that, but talking about possibly move, do you want me to move the team?

[00:13:26] Mark Corbett: That was, 

[00:13:28] Mat Germain: Reinsdorf is doing that right now to the White Sox. He's trying to get a new deal for a new stadium and he doesn't like where it is. There's always these threats and he had done it with Tampa before. Wasn't it him that was doing it? Yeah. Use Tampa as a, as an angle. Anyway, the whole premise is ridiculous and it, but it does.

[00:13:49] Mat Germain: Get people moving and when billionaires speak, generally speaking, people listen, whether it's good or bad, 

[00:13:58] Mark Corbett: whether it's good or bad. The funny thing is, and a couple of years ago, we say something, Oh, it wouldn't be neat if Binnick picked up picked up the race. And then we said what about that guy who's doing everything with these, the rockets?

[00:14:15] Mark Corbett: He seems to be okay. Maybe not. Maybe I'm really glad that didn't happen. But anyway we got Stu and. I just, I don't know what to think about him sometimes. I look at these teams and Institute and I say, the, how deft how attentive and how negotiations must go if you're Eric Neander. Okay.

[00:14:43] Mark Corbett: And, He has to be very almost what I want to say, just like a wise diplomat somebody who's putting together a peace accord when he's bringing in a new player. That sort of gene. I'd like to get in and still that into Sue because I don't think it's there. Let's 

[00:15:07] Mat Germain: look at it from a conceptual point of view.

[00:15:09] Mat Germain: Okay. So you're one of 30. So when you're talking about collector's items when there's only 30 of something, it's pretty valuable. And in this case owning a an MLB franchise just tends to be a tax haven really. So you're really doing well for your wealth.

[00:15:32] Mat Germain: You're managing things in a way that actually helps you build value over time. So it's like having a. A home on steroids, basically, where you're able to add value as it's gaining traction and the market keeps going up. But if you're Stu Sternberg and you're watching the Quebec government right now on its own, without any MLB team associated to it, slap on an 870 million roof.

[00:16:01] Mat Germain: Now, mind you, they don't have a hurricane that came through and destroyed everything, and they don't have competing things that they needed to put that money towards, but they're doing this on their own accord without any billionaire pressuring them to do it. And you're watching this happen. Okay.

[00:16:18] Mat Germain: They get an 870 million roof. I'm asking for an entire new stadium. I'm willing to pay when whatever it is, 600 million, or I can't remember exactly how much his his portion was maybe 700, a million, and they still are putting me through the ringer for the rest of it. 

[00:16:38] Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

[00:16:39] Mat Germain: And it just gets to be, I don't want to say it gets to be old because it's a lot of money and it should go towards The taxpayers and something that's valuable and they get to assess and vote on and do all the procedures are doing.

[00:16:52] Mat Germain: They're all entitled to do it. But I'm saying when you have It would be. So the best way I can put it is like this, Mark, if you're at an auction and you're selling a painting and you have a guy holding up his palette, just waving it in the air. And he's I will give you all my money. And you have another guy who's got it halfway up.

[00:17:13] Mat Germain: And he's I don't know if I really like it, which one are you going to go with? Obviously, I think he's from Northeast United States, so he's from New York, and he would be able to travel back and forth to Montreal or to any other location. I think Nashville would be another one that would be willing to pony up a lot of money.

[00:17:34] Mat Germain: Utah have a group who are Extremely wealthy in the market. That's really enticing. A lot of activity. So I'm saying at some point in time to ST. Petersburg and Pinellas and everybody else have to realize they're in competition and they have to. Sometimes bend to the will of others. And sometimes they just have to say, no, we're not interested, but you got to pick one or the other, and you got to be decisive or else you're just going to never get the deal that you're actually looking for.

[00:18:08] Mat Germain: Maybe not the best deal for the area. 

[00:18:11] Mark Corbett: I think the senior folks on the commission know that. And both Brian Scott and what's the other lady's name? Oh, I can't think of her life with me. I'll bring it up here to mom, but she was basically the chair. And things both of them has said is that one, we've made a commitment.

[00:18:33] Mark Corbett: We've already said, we're going to do this. We need to be able to be, she didn't say honorable, but we have made this commitment. We said, we're going to do it. And we need to follow through it because we have put our name out there. It's Kathleen Peters. And I thought. That's pretty good. I like that and she said the other part was to her and Brian Scott said this, when you're talking to them, they spoke actually to the new people, he said, once you understand this may be the most important votes you make your entire career, even though you're starting today, this Decisions will be made by putting a new state stadium in, excuse me.

[00:19:14] Mark Corbett: It's a generational and transformative action that we can take. Return on investment will be there. They're got a positive take on all that. They see the longterm this, yes, it's a large investment. But I think the one thing that kept coming back, though, in that meeting when I was watching it today, Matt, was, is the one of the, I won't say which one said, the whole idea of what's been happening with the Rays, quote, reeks of corporate selfishness. 

[00:19:47] Mark Corbett: They were saying, what is the meaning of this letter? We've all, anyways, I get that there was a sense actually of personal pain between what was coming from Stu's office. And the folks that are there, but going back to the chair and the vice chair saying, yes, this is going to generational and transformative change.

[00:20:11] Mark Corbett: And it's going to be a positive action. And I hope that those new guys. They take note of that and when the next meeting comes up here, I think December 17th, that they go ahead and ratify it. 

[00:20:24] Mat Germain: I never prove what I'm going to say, honestly, and I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist at all, and there might be no value to it whatsoever.

[00:20:36] Mat Germain: If yours to Sternberg and you have development rights in the area, the way you do, and hurricanes are becoming more and more prominent to the point where ensuring some of your businesses is going to become extremely hard to do or expensive over time. And you have a huge stake in there, in that area.

[00:20:56] Mat Germain: And so you're starting to second guess now, after you've made that commitment in July some of your investments. So this happens and then you look at the area and you look at how hard hit it is, the economic factors are going to be for the people that are surrounding the stadium and they're not going to be concentrated on your team, regardless of how good you do, because they're going to be hard up trying to maintain their property value in their homes and a lot of other more human priorities.

[00:21:29] Mat Germain: So you're looking around at this and you're like then the corporations aren't going to set up shop here if that's the case. And if I don't get the corporate support and I don't have the public support that I need for this franchise, and I'm not in Tampa on top of it, that this is just not ideal.

[00:21:46] Mat Germain: So what do you do? You antagonize the groups enough to the point where. Yeah. Maybe they do walk away from the deal and they have new people. And maybe the whole pressuring thing was to try to get them to make a quick decision of no, they didn't go that way. And they're going to delay and they're going to I think they figured out that they can delay as long as they want really, and they don't have a firm date but they're going to reconvene in December and And have a better look at it and make a firmer decision at that point, but I'm just saying that I would not be surprised if Stu Sternberg is not I don't want to say relieved, but is not at the same time, a little bit excited about other opportunities if it does come to that, 

[00:22:32] Mark Corbett: right?

[00:22:34] Mark Corbett: I had to think completely as soon as that came through and the roof was torn off. I immediately thought what would it be like if St. Pete hadn't signed that agreement? What if that was still there? Would the race wanted to continue to stay in St. Pete? Would that have happened?

[00:22:54] Mark Corbett: I don't know, but I wouldn't call it an opportunity, but a circumstance. Yeah. I think Stu could see the potential. I think he's a smart fella. However, I may feel about some of the things that come out of his mouth. I think he's a smart fella, but he wouldn't be doing what he's doing.

[00:23:15] Mat Germain: I still think Mark like the, and this is going to be a little bit crazier as well. I think that if you were MLB and you wanted to maximize the value of the raise and if the area and to make it fair and square and to do it in a way that might be Might be amenable to all parties involved as the commissioner.

[00:23:39] Mat Germain: I would head down there and I would head down with the Yankees with the Steinbrenner's and I would say, listen, Steinbrenner's, you can have the outlaying site set up a beautiful park. We'll even. Pay for it. We'll pay I think 30 million is what they pay for a Steinbrenner field or whatever we'll pay 50 for this one to be developed the way you want at our lane, you get that site, you get to develop as you want St.

[00:24:03] Mat Germain: Petersburg in that case in the area, get baseball nearby that they can actually enjoy. From a team that is extremely popular in the area, and the Rays get the Steinbrenner Field site and they get to develop a stadium there in an area that makes way more sense to have a an MLB stadium stage that doesn't have to worry as much about the hurricane damage, and that can actually grow over time to having a fan base that actually supports the Rays the way they should support it.

[00:24:34] Mat Germain: To me, that's the solution for the Rays in Tampa. Whether or not it ever comes close to that. I don't know. I think the first test is going to be 2025. Does it get the corporate political and fan base in Tampa excited about Major League Baseball at their doorstep? If it happens to do that, then I think there could be a push towards something like that happening.

[00:25:03] Mark Corbett: Yeah, that's that's definitely got me intrigued. I wouldn't mind seeing how that does play out. I know that was. Part of the brouhaha too, from one of the new guys over at the Pinellas commission going on and on about, Oh, look at our grants. We're going to be spending money over there and they're going to having the team over in Hillsboro, not staying over here.

[00:25:22] Mark Corbett: Pinellas. It's yeah, you know what? You don't have a field large enough or one that MLB is going to say is decent enough in Pinellas to work. You go over there to. Deal Stan Brenner field. You've got that. Yes. I'm sure there's going to be myth changes made. What was it? I never can remember how serious Salem field up there with the oh, she's the Blue Jays Oh, 2020 and they took the Bisons, their triple A teams field over and they made changes to it.

[00:25:53] Mark Corbett: They enhanced it and they played the entire year there. And I could see them doing that here with the Yankees and Steinbrenner field in Tampa, but wouldn't it be something. 

[00:26:04] Mat Germain: But honestly so you're looking at it from this way. Okay. And then what you can do is say, okay, that 55 million that we're going to spend on the roof.

[00:26:12] Mat Germain: We can spend whatever portion was going to come out of Penelope or St. Pete can go towards better things then. And, but think about it this way. How much would it cost? to add 5, 000 seats to that slimebrenner fields to have the 16, 000 attendants, right? Yeah. At that point, 16, 000, you're fine. This is what you were getting before.

[00:26:32] Mat Germain: If anything, you can probably sell the tickets for a higher price because you're closer to Tampa and you can sell more corporate seats and more season tickets and et cetera. So I think, It just makes too much sense in too many ways. Now, I know there's a history with the Steinbrenner field.

[00:26:51] Mat Germain: There's a, this, there's a, that there's the other thing. I don't care. At some point, you have to move on and make them an offer that they can't refuse for that site, which is large enough for major league baseball to be located without any red tape from politicians in the area. It's completely controlled by.

[00:27:10] Mat Germain: By baseball entities that can just make the wise choice and it makes business sense. It just does. The Yankees don't benefit enough from 11, 000 seat, a class affiliate for it to make sense for major league baseball to say, okay, the race can't be there. It doesn't make any sense. 

[00:27:31] Mark Corbett: No. I've been over there for single A games and it is slim. 

[00:27:37] Mark Corbett: It was like maybe a couple thousand people, if that when I went there for a game. So what they'd be able to get by turning it to with the raise. I think, yeah, it's insane. They're not going to be making the money off of a, that single A team for that place. Exactly. 

[00:27:58] Mat Germain: I'm going to write a letter to, to, to Rob Manfred, just concerned raise thing.

[00:28:07] Mark Corbett: Maybe we should do a an open petition on blue sky, 

[00:28:11] Mat Germain: right? The reason meet another trade with the New York team though. 

[00:28:18] Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh. Yeah. During the meetings, I'm looking at some my reference. And I thought they don't know he just got traded. Go ahead and tell the story. My friend. 

[00:28:28] Mat Germain: So Jose Siri was traded to the Mets who who they don't get Juan Soto yet but they do get somebody that can patrol center field who was benched twice by Kevin Cash.

[00:28:40] Mat Germain: And I don't know what you have to do to get benched twice by Kevin Cash. But. Obviously it was enough. The Rays had enough. I've told you before how Chandler Simpson, I feel, is MLB ready. And I feel like this really opens the door and streamlines the road to him. For now, they also added Jake Mangum to the 40 man roster to protect him from the Rule 5.

[00:29:06] Mat Germain: They got him as the player to be named later when When the race sent Brouhon and Calvin Fauche to Ireland's and the race also got two other players, Ned, Eric, Laura, and Andrew Lindsay who are still in the system. Jake Mangum plays extremely hard as a really good hit tool.

[00:29:28] Mat Germain: And the other thing that I, I find intriguing now that Siri's not around and they'll probably want to bridge the gap to a Chandler Simpson is I looked at 2022 through to 2024 and Jose Siri I wanted to see the best way that runs created by center fielders with 300 and a At bats or more over that timeframe and Jose Siri ended up 51st on that list with an 86 WRC plus and right ahead of them.

[00:30:02] Mat Germain: Cause I'm sure there's percentage there's like dots, right? There's a percentage points that, that we don't get to see on fangrass, but right ahead of them at number 50 was Dylan Carlson. So I think what you're going to see is a lot of Dylan Carlson and center field for the rays and Johnny DeLuca as well.

[00:30:20] Mat Germain: And others, Jake Mancum, probably if he plays really well in spring training, but Dylan Carlson's a switch hitter. And when you look at his hitting profile, he matches up really well with what Jose Siri has managed. Now the difference is that he's a lot younger than Jose Siri. And there might still be another level for him that.

[00:30:41] Mat Germain: To hit because of that. So maybe the race figure some playing time and more consistency could help them achieve more. And then if they need to slide into the left or right field at some point because he is a switch hitter they can use them in, in any of those roles. So Jose Siri goes there to raise, get Eric or say, I don't even know how to say the last name.

[00:31:04] Mat Germain: It's O R Z E. So you can say it however you want. But But he's an intriguing guy as well. It gets about 12 K per nine. The, his, through his miner's career, it's been pretty consistent at that, the walks up and down. I think it was a four and a half last year per nine. So it's not elite, but the rays have been known to get that level down a lot, which is what they did last year with Edwin, you said who became a star in the pen for the raise in the second half, 

[00:31:35] Mark Corbett: right?

[00:31:36] Mat Germain: So I think there's a chance that they're able to do something similar with him and he misses a lot of bats. He's hard to hit and I could even see them eventually rolling him into a multi innings roll. So when you're looking at the right side of the the pen for the raise, you have Pete Fairbanks, you have Edwin, you said you have Drew Rasmussen, you have Kevin Kelly, and then you have this guy.

[00:32:03] Mat Germain: Like you're, they're just, they're really strong on the right side. And so the guy that they ended up waving to make place for everybody was a Richard Lovelady, who's going to be does he was designated for assignment, but they have five days to see if they can work out a deal for them.

[00:32:22] Mark Corbett: Wow. Yeah, lovely. I guess I was a little surprised to see him go, but or at least be put out for that. Let's see. You know what I wasn't surprised though to see? And that was one of our x rays. And that is Mr. Willie Adamas. So he basically rejected the option for a one year contract at twenty one and a half million dollars with the Brewers.

[00:32:51] Mark Corbett: And I'm only, I'm curious where he's going to land. Because I keep remembering that, what if you lose a player, a veteran, and I think, I don't know if there's a borderline, you have to make at least fifty million, if that player makes over fifty million, that you An earlier draft your team does if you lose that player?

[00:33:10] Mat Germain: Yeah, there's levels to it now where you know, and I think there's more than one tier. I think there's three or four tiers and so I think if you sign over 100 million, it's a certain amount if you sign over this It's that yeah, and it's changed year to year. So I don't know exactly where it stands but definitely You know, Willie Adams is on that fringe where depending on how desperate a team is he could end up getting more and you know where I want to see him go.

[00:33:41] Mat Germain: And I know it's a weird spot because you, they have a shortstop named heavy bias. And I think with the Detroit Tigers, if they want to take that next step forward, you talk about changing the the makeup of your team significantly in terms of the, how solid your infield can play.

[00:34:02] Mat Germain: Heavy bias is a great second baseman, but he's a terrible short stop. I don't understand the attraction there. So Willie Adonis would be a great fit, I think with AJ Hinch and the Tigers I think they have the money for it. I just don't know really if they see him as the solution. But I looked through their entire system in terms of short stops and there's nothing that stands out.

[00:34:28] Mat Germain: So it would really solidify them there at that position for a while. And And yeah I think that's the fit for him. Now, a lot of people are saying maybe the Dodgers but the Dodgers are getting everybody and I'm tired of it. So I just don't want to put them in. 

[00:34:45] Mark Corbett: I'm with you. Yeah. Okay. Super team. 

[00:34:49] Mark Corbett: I'm happy for you. Don't take any more of the good guys. We're just let them be somewhere else. Willie is that personality. Who's going to, we talk him. Or about having a glue guy and he is definitely a glue guy. 

[00:35:03] Mat Germain: Oh, he be he's yeah. He's the definition of a glue guy. I don't think there's anybody that can that can be around him and not smile and not love the game.

[00:35:12] Mat Germain: He's a little bit like a Francisco Lindor in that way, where he just lights up and Juan Soto is the same kind of personality. Yeah. And there's just, there's a lot of guys that, that are a little bit of the opposite way. You're wondering, okay how quickly does a team want to change?

[00:35:31] Mat Germain: So I'll give you an example, a team that I would love to see as well as the Tigers, but I just don't know if they're there yet, they should release Anthony Rendon in LA and sign Willie Adamas. Think about the, you're going from Eeyore to, to Tigger.

[00:35:57] Mat Germain: It's like you. I think they're like Willie Adamus and Ron Washington. Oh, my goodness. You talk about a bowl of positivity. It would just change the angels for so much good. They Anthony Rendon has mine negative value at this point. And I just don't know what they're going to get out of them anyway, even if they do.

[00:36:17] Mat Germain: Around, so they're just making it take the bandaid off in one fell swoop. Just go ahead, get rid of them. If you can send them and get five pennies for them, that's great. And then back to the nationals or somewhere else, but he's just weighing down that team and they need some positivity. Now they made a few moves like Kevin Newman.

[00:36:37] Mat Germain: I think they picked up and a couple of other guys that they make it questionable that they would go for a shortstop, but I thought if Willie Adonis is willing to go to third. That's the spot for him, in my opinion, right next to Zach Needle. 

[00:36:52] Mark Corbett: I would love to see him there, man. I, and I said, with Ron Washington, the boot the one guy that do want to see completely insane, not as anything actually to do with a major league baseball, but we talked about this before, I think Brett Phillips, right?

[00:37:14] Mark Corbett: He's going to be, he's going to be a pitcher now. I don't know 

[00:37:19] Mat Germain: where he's going to land and I haven't seen him like really pitch like now that he's really taking it on, but man, that guy is just, so I hope he goes into announcing later on, hosting baseball shows, he just has to put himself out there and be in the limelight because you can't bottle it.

[00:37:41] Mat Germain: There's no. There's no way you could imagine somebody that positive and upbeat and loving the game the way he does it's infectious. Oh yeah. Yeah. 

[00:37:53] Mark Corbett: Hey, what do you think now? All right. I'll say this. When I watch the Rays at home, I've been watching them on Valley sports. And one day I looked down at my phone and the Ballet Sports logo was no longer there.

[00:38:07] Mark Corbett: It's FanDuel. I was like, what? Then, I'm looking a little closer, I say, okay, time to go ahead and suspend my subscription. Not to mention I could watch the lightning with them, but it's not what I really enjoy doing. And, man, right now, between the bankruptcy that's going on with the repair company, Diamond, I'm not, I'm really curious what, It's going to continue to look like what teams are still going to be tied in with diamond or Bali or Pando or whatever it is now, I've got to do some homework on that one.

[00:38:42] Mat Germain: Like the the gift where the guy's in front of the board and he's writing these math equations and it's all trying to make sense of things. Yeah. That's essentially the TV mess that the major league baseball is in right now. They really missed the boat in terms of sorting themselves out.

[00:39:02] Mat Germain: Every other league figured it out. And baseball is still antiquated and trying to trying to force the old school system on the companies that just want nothing to do with it anymore. So I don't know why the process is so slow. If major league baseball had any way of knowing how to market itself, it would be resolved a long time ago.

[00:39:27] Mat Germain: They would. Take ownership of it, they would market it the right way to get the average of revenue that they need within their own streaming services, and then they would continue to build the relationships like they have been with Apple and a few other of the mainstream. Places like Amazon and whatever else, it's not, I don't want to say it's not complicated because of course it always is, but they have the brain trust to do it.

[00:39:54] Mat Germain: So why isn't it being done? I still say it's because they're all led by old men for the most part. And that's the way that it goes. 

[00:40:03] Mark Corbett: It's. They're still trying to figure it out. And as fans, we know, okay, I do. I have ballet sports or fan do whatever it is. Do I have the MLB app? Yes. Okay. But I'm not going to be able to see everything there.

[00:40:14] Mark Corbett: Cause I got to also sometimes have Peacock or Amazon or Apple. And because you can't watch your team one place through the entire year. And then let's see the same as the Padres and the diamond box. They fell off the whole diamond thing. There were missing payments and MLB picked them up. And. I need to reach out to somebody else or find out how they're handling those games.

[00:40:35] Mark Corbett: Are they still a blackout? Let's see and providing your games blackout free through MLB TV. I'm reading one thing real quick here on ESPN. If that's the case, man, I'd have MLB all the time. If I could just see all of my games, period. Not worrying about wake up the next day and see the rays because I can't watch them live.

[00:40:59] Mat Germain: Yeah, I think the Utah Jazz do something very unique where they broadcast their games locally for free. And then they have a site or a, that they run where you can get access to a whole bunch of of other interviews, data, games, et cetera, extended clips all these types of things, and they charge money or monthly subscription for that.

[00:41:28] Mat Germain: And then, so what it does is it builds up your fan base to be an incredible levels. Like everybody's able to get access to the games, no matter what, that are local and they go to the games because they become fans of the team. So they're always full and they get the revenue from the app service that they're actually providing.

[00:41:50] Mat Germain: They're just they're making out more money in that form than they would with any sort of other service. So if they can do it for that, and it's the same way that I look at the way the Green Bay Packers are able to be competitive with all the other teams in football because of the way. The budgeting is worked out for each team and the cap and the floor and yada yada, there's ways of doing things and major league baseball just has to get its head wrapped around it and look at which teams are having the most success, which leagues are having the most success and play a little bit of copycat when it comes to that, instead of trying to forge it on your own terms, like for whatever reason, being unique, I don't know.

[00:42:36] Mark Corbett: So where are you watching the Perth heat? Yeah. 

[00:42:40] Mat Germain: So they've gone through a melancholy of different ways of showing their games. And so a lot of times you have to just wait until the season begins and so basically I've been watching the highlights. So the, I watched the game after the fact, instead of watching it live, just so that I can find it easier.

[00:43:06] Mat Germain: I can fast forward. I can actually watch the players that I want to watch play instead of having to, because the one thing about the reason what they sent this year is that they didn't send any pictures. So it's a little bit different than it was in previous years. And I think. The reason for that is, is the the focus on the Australian baseball league and getting a lot of Korean talent over, and a lot of the teams have chosen to delve into the pool of pitchers that they have in coming out of Korea that are really talented and they're a little bit older and they're a little bit more professional and higher caliber than what the Rays would have been sending over.

[00:43:56] Mat Germain: So what the Rays were sending over were basically. Rookie level to a level pitchers that they wanted to get more innings for whatever reason. Now that's all fine and good, but there are they're getting five, six, seven walks per nine on average. And it's not really a pleasant thing to watch when you're a fan or you're trying to build up a league.

[00:44:19] Mat Germain: So I think they just wanted something a little bit more professional and a raise weren't, I don't know if they weren't willing to entertain sending older pitchers. Or if the pitchers were just saying no themselves, I can't speak to that. Yeah. So now when you watch the highlights of Ray's prospects in the ABL, you can just focus on the hitters.

[00:44:39] Mat Germain: And I have to say and he'll Mateo is doing an excellent job of making an impact. His first two games, he had a home run in each one. One was a mammoth shot. He was only 19 this year and he's really you talk about electric players, like guys that just, You know, they have that kind of energy. 

[00:44:58] Mat Germain: He has that and he's 19 and he has enough speed. So what he's working on the ABL that I'm hoping shines through next year is his hit tool so that he can get more of that power that seems to be in there somewhere. 

[00:45:14] Mark Corbett: So what else is going on in the wild world of Matt Jermaine, any books you're reading, any shows you're watching?

[00:45:21] Mat Germain: Oh man. I've been watching the penguin. Oh, have you? Yeah, man. What a show. Like it's just, it's everything you would dream Gotham to be, but they made it like it's because it's not all about Batman. It just shows you his story and he do a really good job of I don't know. It's got some really good writers and really good acting and the scenes are really good.

[00:45:49] Mat Germain: I think it's well worth the watch if ever you get a chance to watch it. Oh, and I will say I'm balancing that out with the wife because she likes the marvelous madame nasal. 

[00:46:03] Mark Corbett: laughing 

[00:46:04] Mat Germain: So there's a, there's an upbeat, then there's a downbeat. And there's an upbeat, and then, yeah you gotta give and take.

[00:46:11] Mat Germain: And I'm also getting ready for Christmas. We've got the lights up on the front of the house already. 

[00:46:15] Mark Corbett: Oh, wow. 

[00:46:17] Mat Germain: We don't have any cold weather though. I don't know what's going on, but it doesn't feel like snow is anywhere near arriving. 

[00:46:25] Mark Corbett: It's supposed to get all the way down into the seventies here the next day or so.

[00:46:30] Mark Corbett: Oh, wow. Yeah. Go figure. No, it's a I, myself, I'm trying to do a little bit more with women in baseball. I was reading a book that said making my pitch by Isla borders. And she's quite the story to tell like, Being a professional baseball player, like with the St. Paul saints. And that's Sam when Mike Vick, yeah, he remember this you remember him?

[00:46:58] Mark Corbett: Mike Vick? 

[00:46:59] Mat Germain: Yes, I do. The dog pound guy. Yep. 

[00:47:01] Mark Corbett: Yep. Yep. Yeah. It's funny. There's some stories about him and made me, while I was reading her book, I also dug out, I think it's on Netflix with secondhand saint of secondhand, can't even speak the saint of second chances. Which was a story on him and which is very cool.

[00:47:21] Mark Corbett: And reminds me not only about the blowing up of the. The records and the disco, but setting off fireworks inside of the drop. Quite, quite the individual, but yeah, that's a good book. And it's called making my pitch. 

[00:47:40] Mat Germain: I think you're putting me onto a certain path now, because I do want to get back into reading a little bit more baseball books.

[00:47:48] Mat Germain: It's been a while since I read my last one. So I think I might pick a few for the Christmas break and see if I can get a few notches in my, Baseball book reading, usually this time of year I'm ordering my baseball America handbook. And then once Christmas hits and Turn it over to the new year, I'm able to delve into that and my nose doesn't come out of it for a few weeks.

[00:48:18] Mat Germain: So yeah, that's what I usually focus on, but I do want to touch on one other thing, Mark before we. Before we let this go Roki Sasaki's made some comments that are really intriguing. And I don't know what, I'm not saying he's going to end up with the race, but he did reiterate constantly every time I've heard him speak every time I've heard him say where he would want to go, that he is focused on going somewhere where his personal development.

[00:48:51] Mat Germain: Is going to be optimized. And I do think it puts the raise within a top five of MLB when it, when you look at it from a pitcher's point of view. So it's intriguing because what it would take in this case for the raise to land them probably would be to negate some international signings that they were going to do with Latin American players in order to sign him.

[00:49:17] Mat Germain: To the maximum amount that he that they could basically which isn't going to be very much, to be quite honest, and then they get to keep them for six years, right? That are seven years. So that's like what the angels had with Otani. So it's something to keep an eye on because the raise, they seemingly have a set rotation but if you bring, if you do that, and the reason I say that is because when I look at the raise moves today, they also kept Cole Salser.

[00:49:46] Mat Germain: Now it doesn't seem like much on the front. What it meant was that they were keeping a 34 year old reliever who was very effective last year, instead of protecting somebody like Cole Wilcox or Logan Workman, who are two very, Intriguing right handed pitchers that will probably get plucked in a rule five draft.

[00:50:07] Mat Germain: So when you're doing that, it tells me that you're born and you're closer to wanting to compete than people might think you are. And so if the Rays were able to have Shane McClanahan come back and have somebody like Roki Sasaki and have the rotation behind that, that they already have, Then all of a sudden you're able to use some of your pitching depth to go and grab a few hitters that are intriguing that can really add up.

[00:50:35] Mat Germain: They just opened up center field. Who's to say they're not going to go get Louis Robert from the white socks, or I can name a lot of other guys, obviously. But all that to say that they're not going to say no. If Roki Sasaki is willing to sign with them. 

[00:50:50] Mark Corbett: When he's a young guy too, just about let's see, 23 years old.

[00:50:54] Mark Corbett: That's right. And I'm looking real quickly here, but an ERA of 2. 10, strikeouts 505 in 2024 win loss record 29 15, yeah, pitched a perfect game in April 2022, man. Roki Sasaki. Yeah. I, it would add some color to the team, man. I could, I can see where this guy could be something new with that. I like the idea of that.

[00:51:25] Mat Germain: Yep. I think that the the downside is the stadium issue and all the other things. So I don't think the Rays are in contention to be quite honest, but I think that when you're looking at it from A development point of view, it does put them at the forefront of teams that would be of interest to somebody in that position.

[00:51:45] Mat Germain: So I, I don't know where he's going to land. I just hope that it's not LA or New York. And then if that's the case he's going to be a lot of fun to watch in 25 or 26. 

[00:51:57] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I like that. It, it brings something to mind and you touched on it there too. The whole stadium issue.

[00:52:04] Mark Corbett: Who are we going, who, any free agent, if you're a free agent, would you come here knowing that the way things are as far as having a stadium and having a place to play? 

[00:52:14] Mat Germain: So I think it would remember when the Rays brought in Nate Eovaldi, or they brought in Wilson Ramos, or those kinds of guys that were trying to rebuild their value and the Rays overpaid a little bit to bring them aboard?

[00:52:28] Mat Germain: It's going to be that kind of deal. So let's say they want to bring in Danny Jansen and they want to give him eight million a year. Nobody else is willing to give him more than six. Then that's a way that they can actually get him notched up. And I think they are working towards something like that.

[00:52:44] Mat Germain: It's one of the reasons they let go of Jose Siri. They saved 2 million there by using Jake Mangum for that roster spot. So it already starts working you towards being able to afford something like that. I do think the rays are going to be aggressive and getting either Kyle Higashioka or Danny Jensen.

[00:53:03] Mat Germain: I think those are the next two. They're really going to be looking at unless they just happen to not like one or the other for whatever reason it could be health purposes health reasons, but Kyle Higashioka is from the Yankees and he's worked a lot in that stadium that they're going to be playing in. 

[00:53:22] Mat Germain: There's a comfort factor there. He knows the ALDs very well. He's not going to ask for the moon. He just wants the playing time more than anything at his age. And he might want some revenge on the Yankees and some of who knows, 

[00:53:41] Mark Corbett: I think it was an old locker. Oh, so right.

[00:53:43] Mat Germain: Exactly. So I think that's something to watch for. The Razor, to me, they're acting like a team that wants to compete. They haven't gotten rid of Brandon Lau yet. They haven't gotten rid of Yandy Diaz. They're still hanging on at Jeffrey Springs. Those are the three big you know, costly players. And they still have Pete Fairbanks. 

[00:54:02] Mat Germain: As long as those four Players are on board. The rays are really looking to compete in 2025. 

[00:54:10] Mark Corbett: I'm ready for it, brother. It's going to be a wild ride. I got a feeling as far as sitting back and watching the insanity, getting all the paperwork done, the money done. I know sometimes I just feel like I'm done with it. 

[00:54:21] Mark Corbett: You and I both. Yeah, but it's, I wanted them here. I wanted them on this side of the water, one of them in Tampa. But if that comes to be, oh, I know what it was, there's one last thing I'm going to say, is Ken Hagen. I heard on WDAE radio today, one of the personalities there said they had spoke with Ken Hagen, who was very instrumental about pushing to get the race here in Tampa.

[00:54:45] Mark Corbett: And he said, We're a lot of folks heard there was only being 300 million being offered by the city. He said there was like another 300 million on top of that, but it was a group growing into it. It wasn't like here's 600 million straight up. So he was putting it out there that maybe there'd be a little bit more money or a little bit more flexibility evidently in Tampa today.

[00:55:08] Mark Corbett: So I don't know. We'll see what comes. 

[00:55:11] Mat Germain: Yep. I think there's another saga to be played just when we thought it was done and over with, the gift that keeps on giving. That's it, brother. That is absolutely it. Oh gosh. It's great talking with you here again today, Matt. Just want to tell you folks, it's been crazy lately.

[00:55:32] Mark Corbett: So I apologize for not getting anything out. A hurricane brain. We'll go with that. A lot of other hurricanes, but. It's good to be back. We're going to, I'll be back a little bit more frequently. Hopefully Matt will be here some as well, and we'll just have a, have fun. So look forward to the next time. And thank you again for joining us here on baseball biz on deck.

[00:55:51] Mark Corbett: If that's it, let's go ahead and give her a wrap and thank everybody once again for joining Matt and I here today on baseball biz on deck, and we look forward to talk with you again, real soon, special thanks to X tech, RUX for the music rocking forward, remember you can find. Baseball biz on deck here.

[00:56:10] Mark Corbett: You find it on YouTube. You can find it on Spotify and wherever you look online. We're there. I'm ready, baby. All right. Enjoy the rest of the week everybody 

Special. Thanks to XTAKRUX for the music rocking. 

Thanks to Mat Germain for bringing his knowledge, wit and wisdom to the show. You can catch more of Mat on BlueSky @matgermain.bsky.social

Mark can be found on BlueSky at @baseballbizondeck.bsky.social & and at  http://www.baseballbizondeck.com