RaysUp! Trade deadlines, the kings of Draft, The Baz returns

FINAL 244  Rays Up BaseballBiz On Deck

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to baseball business on deck. I am Mark Corbett and with me, of course, is Mr. Mat Germain, and we are here to help you love and learn with the Tampa Bay  Rays . What's fun. What's not. And dissect what's happening inside the minds of that front office, not to mention the coaching staff. Hey, how you doing, Mat?

[00:00:24] Mark Corbett: I'm getting drafty. Getting drafty.

[00:00:29] Mark Corbett: Oh, I dig it, brother. I absolutely dig it. It's it is that time of year, man. It was who's moving in. Who's moving out. And then who's, who's potentially going to be coming in from the draft. What are you seeing there?

[00:00:43] Mat Germain: I'm seeing a lot of, uh, trades probably being, being, uh, consummated right now, uh, before the draft more than likely involving a few of those picks, I would imagine because teams are starting to move.

[00:00:55] Mat Germain: Uh, we saw the raise make a couple of deals and, uh, I think there's a lot more teams wanting to jump into the action and things will get sorted out pretty quickly.

[00:01:05] Mark Corbett: You know, it's all a lot about it. It's a lot about money. Let's just be realistic about it. And one piece of news that we got this week was about our, uh, beloved, well, maybe beloved's not the right word, dear Wander Franco.

[00:01:19] Mark Corbett: He looks like he's going to be indicted, and if that's the case The raise could potentially cut 2 million a year from their budget.

[00:01:29] Mat Germain: Yeah. 2 million a year. And then, and then some like the, the, what it, what this could lead to is ultimately the raise deciding to add money later on, like beyond, you know, 20, 26 and 20, 27, because they had a sizable chunk already allocated to It changes a lot of things.

[00:01:52] Mat Germain: And the big one, I think they, like you were probably going to point to is the, uh, the additions that they made in the charges made, uh, that are fairly significant, like they can lead to 20 years in prison and, but more than anything, assuming they are successful with those charges being laid, uh, regardless of what the penalty ends up being in the Dominican Republic, it gives MLB the, the, and really the, uh, The people who hand out work visas in the United States,

[00:02:22] Mark Corbett: uh,

[00:02:23] Mat Germain: the, the leverage that they need in order to deal with it in a administrative manner, that allows the  Rays  to get out from the contract and forget all about them sort of thing.

[00:02:33] Mat Germain: Um, so it would take a lot of power away from Juan or Franco. And now the raise no longer need to pay them, which is huge.

[00:02:41] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I'd love to have another 2 million to put somewhere. You know, this sad situation that all came down from this and the people that were involved in the young lady, but we're not going to rehash that here.

[00:02:53] Mark Corbett: People, if you want to know more, dig it up, it's out there. And, uh, but the impact on, on the game with the raise, I mean, this gap. He was going to be the face of the race, much like Longoria was for a long time. I thought, but it's, uh, it's, that's obviously not going to be the case. And who knows where he may wind up, if not in prison, uh, who, who, anyway, who, who knows, but really didn't want to lace this name to it, but I was making a comparison to a franchise player.

[00:03:22] Mark Corbett: And. Well, that's, that goes to Mr. Evan Longoria, kind of bouncing there because I see he's going to be in town. He's going to be at the trap on Tampa throwing out a ceremonial first pitch. So that should be a lot of fun.

[00:03:36] Mat Germain: Like the, there, there was, I don't want to say, I think his feelings were hurt when, when he was dealt, he thought he was going to stay forever.

[00:03:43] Mat Germain: And, uh, and I, I don't think he ever did anything outwardly, you know, against the  Rays  at all and, and rightfully so. Uh, but I, I do like the fact that he's, you know, inching his way back in. I, I saw it with a lot of other teams where, um, The players get surprise dealt, maybe you can call it that. And then they, they go back and eventually it can, it can lead to really productive things.

[00:04:07] Mat Germain: Like there's no reason he can't join the front office in some way, shape or form sort of like what, uh, who's the guy that, that, uh, it was an outfielder. In our span, like how he advises the front office, right? Uh, there's a lot of good that can come out of that relationship. And I think Evan still makes his home in Tampa.

[00:04:27] Mat Germain: As far as I know, he might have another one in Arizona. Uh, but, uh, you know, there, there's nothing that says that he can't join back in and once they move into the new one, you know, you can still build the Evan Longoria statue somewhere on that site.

[00:04:41] Mark Corbett: And I do see that happening at one point. I know when Evan was dealt.

[00:04:47] Mark Corbett: And I don't know how early that was in the Andrews career with the  Rays , the venom that was directed toward him. I expected some fans to burn, uh, Eric and effigy, you know, it was, it was not pleasant with a lot of fans. And I had people say to me, I was working at the trap during that time when as a fan host, they said, well, I'm never going to see another game again.

[00:05:10] Mark Corbett: I'm never going to, you know, it's, but. It hurt, you know what I mean? Like it's a franchise guy.

[00:05:17] Mat Germain: The 10 and five rights really scared the raise. And then especially like the amount of financial flexibility that they had, they weren't able to wait and keep weeding down his salary to match what his production was going to be and still be as competitive as they want it to be, because they need to allocate, like, for example, like an easy one to point to, and, and I did this while I was still at DeRay's Bay, the raise would never have Gotten Charlie Morton, if they had, you know, Evan Longoria.

[00:05:47] Mat Germain: So then what happens to that team? Well, is the pitching staff anywhere near good enough? Are they able to do the run that they actually, um, went on? You know, I don't think it would have been as, as good a run of five years in the playoffs as it has been.

[00:06:01] Mark Corbett: Let's jump back to where you started and like I said, I'm always jumping off the train.

[00:06:06] Mark Corbett: We were looking at the drafts and the activity going on. We had earlier this year, we DFA to Erasmo Ramirez and Harold. Uh, he was dealt, um, actually DFA as well. So then this week, who is it? Phil, Phil Maton,

[00:06:21] Mat Germain: Phil Maton was dealt for cash. Um, and also right before him, we had Aaron Savali dealt, right? So the  Rays  have, uh, between those two have cleared about 6 million or just over 6 million in obligations.

[00:06:38] Mat Germain: Uh, which is, you know, you can look at it two ways. You can say, okay, well, they're not sure how far they're going to be able to take it. So they're, they're trying to save money to, uh, to kind of soften the blow sort of thing. Uh, but I think it's more making room for better options personally, uh, and, and deciding to move on from guys that.

[00:06:59] Mat Germain: You know, Shane Baz is out pitching Aaron Sali 90% of the time, uh, that he's on the mound. And I would say the same thing with Manuel Rodriguez in the pen that, that they called up once they dealt, um, Phil Maan to, to the Mets. Now Phil Maton basically was, uh, to me, he was like a hot potato . He, he was like, oh, he had a good, a little good stretch.

[00:07:23] Mat Germain: Okay, let's deal on what we can, sort of thing. And uh, 'cause he was doing a little bit better. Um. But in, in getting rid of his salary, they were able to open up room for a guy that they really like. Uh, I think he's had enough time now in AAA to make the best of it. And the intriguing thing is, Mark, with, um, the pen all together, now they've moved on, like you mentioned, Erasmus Ramirez, uh, Chris Divinski and Phil Maton, three of their softest throwing guys.

[00:07:54] Mat Germain: So now they've replaced those with pretty hard throwing guys. So it's going to be interesting how to see how the pen, uh, performs now that the majority of them, I would say are averaging 94 plus, you know, in the pen, other than Richard LoveLady, I think is the only one that, um, that doesn't, but, uh, it'll be interesting to see if that helps them or if they are so alike velocity wise that it helps the other team kind of maintain performances.

[00:08:22] Mark Corbett: Well, I, you know, you're talking about that and I get it. I'm just wondering what else might break. Mm-Hmm. uh, you know, there's, there's some people say, well, they're gonna, they wanna get rid of Siri and a rosari. I mean, they're, they're doing great, but their money's just so much there, and surely they can bring up somebody from the farm.

[00:08:40] Mark Corbett: I don't see that. I don't see it with Siri anyway. I see it possibly with Arozarena I don't know if

[00:08:48] Mat Germain: a rule , so. I think the next one to get moved would be another starting pitcher to make room for Jeffrey Springs. Jeffrey Springs threw about 64 pitches in his last start. Um, which usually means, you know, you're able to go 70 plus the next time.

[00:09:04] Mat Germain: So, now he's landing to be a viable option that will give you 4 to 5 innings, right? On average. Right. Now you do want to get him at least two or three starts. But like I said, he's also on the clock. So when they put him on a rehab assignment and they sent them to AAA, they have a certain amount of time before they would either have to use an option or add them to the roster.

[00:09:28] Mat Germain: So. With before the trade deadline, they're going to have to put them on the roster, no Mater what, whether it's in a pen or whether it's in a rotation. And, uh, I think that's going to force out one starter. When you look at the dollars and cents of it, the one that seems to make the most sense is Zach Eflin, uh, who's been doing, you know, solid work, but not.

[00:09:50] Mat Germain: You know, ace potential guy necessarily that he was last year for the majority of it.

[00:09:56] Mark Corbett: Right.

[00:09:56] Mat Germain: So, so the value may not be as high as it would have been last year, but he's still showing strength and being able to go deep enough in games that he'll be a very intriguing piece that some teams will want to add.

[00:10:09] Mat Germain: Um, the, the outfield is weird for the raise because you look at AAA and you look at guys, like you mentioned that they could call up and, and I think there's still a year away from being. They completely comfortable with doing that. And so if it was a Chandler Simpson, if it was Herberto, uh, Hernandez with a lot of really good success in a triple a, uh, somebody like that, like Ruben Cardenas, we talked about before he was doing really well, they still weren't comfortable using them.

[00:10:39] Mat Germain: They shipped them off to Philadelphia. So I think outfield wise, they're happy, even though they want Johnny DeLuca to do more than he's doing.

[00:10:47] Mark Corbett: Yup.

[00:10:48] Mat Germain: That's, that's the way I feel and I feel like if they did, don't use Johnny DeLuca much, they'll just give more playing time to Richie Palacios and, and they'll work it out like that.

[00:10:57] Mat Germain: So, and maybe even eventually Jose Caballero spends more time in the outfield or some time in the outfield. Um, we'll see, but it's a, it's an intriguing time for the  Rays  who have, uh, Some assets that you could point to that, that, you know, that the trade deadline, we might get one surprise, but I still think that the starting pitcher is the one

[00:11:23] Mark Corbett: that makes more sense.

[00:11:24] Mark Corbett: You know, when you talk about the starting pitcher and the buzz is back, but his first time out, he didn't really get any backing from the offense whatsoever. It seemed like. So let's see, what was that? Was the Rangers and we lost three to zip to them that day. Uh, he, uh, so he gave up, you know, what, I think it was like six, six hits.

[00:11:49] Mark Corbett: I'm not sure. I'll take it. Yeah. But the thing was, man, he's back and I know Mat, he's going to be a great asset. I think they're talking about possibly this Friday. He'll be playing as well. I'm not sure when that's actually going to happen. So look forward to seeing that as well. Let's see. Right.

[00:12:07] Mat Germain: The more encouraging thing with Shane was that he only walked one in his start.

[00:12:11] Mat Germain: And to me that points to like, cause control has always been one of the issues with him getting the most out of his stuff. So if he's able to control it and not walk anyone, he'll have a lot of success.

[00:12:23] Mark Corbett: That'd be great. Pardon me. But looking at success, it's been interesting because you look over the last month and the  Rays  lost four in a row, Baltimore.

[00:12:36] Mark Corbett: Then we started seeing some good things happen. We went to three with the Cubs. And then when I went to Atlanta, we lost two or three there, but then we had to see one, two, three, four, uh, consistent wins with two out of three with the twins, two out of three with Pittsburgh, two out of three with Seattle.

[00:12:53] Mark Corbett: And two out of three at Kansas city, then Arlington, then Arlington, Oh, come on, man. I mean, that team, as far as their record to date, wasn't all that fantastic, but they made sure that we didn't win a single one of those three games. And,

[00:13:12] Mat Germain: and it's not like the reason we're playing terribly, they just did not show up for the series, which happens.

[00:13:19] Mark Corbett: Yeah. And I really wish they, I mean, I always want to do the best, but with Baz there during that, that series, I really wanted them to come up, stand up at last night's game being. Tuesday and watching the  Rays  play the Yankees. Wow. The team America's team. No, that's that's the Dallas Cowboys. Uh, you know, um, we, we see that team.

[00:13:44] Mark Corbett: We see Siri. Oh, excuse me. We, we see Soto and we see, uh, judge, obviously LeMay. He's back in that round of laboratories, I believe still with them. Who else? It's, uh, in that. Ben Rice. Oh my gosh. He was looking fantastic, but they, they'd seem to be having trouble now. I don't, I don't know what's going on. So the

[00:14:10] Mat Germain: thing with the Yankees is that they have a lot of players who, uh, you know, they've allocated a lot of funds to like DJ LeMay who, and Anthony Rizzo and a whole bunch of other guys that, and like labor Torres who are underperformers.

[00:14:24] Mat Germain: And, and they have been for a while now, like two, three years. And, and they. They continue to clog up the roster to be quite honest, and then they should move on from them, but he refused to and so what it's doing is it's put making their, their lineup completely lopsided. Anthony Volpe is having what you would call a sophomore slump right now.

[00:14:46] Mat Germain: Now, last you know 3040 days he's just. Struggling to get anything consistent going. So they moved them down in the lineup to try to give them some help, but we already knew, knew that Trent Grisham was not going to be helping them offensively. We already knew that Trevino was going to help them offensively very much, maybe once in the blue moon, but no, you know, consistency is not going to be there.

[00:15:07] Mat Germain: So all that said, it's just not a deep enough roster. And that's what I'm saying online is X is, uh, If I'm Juan Soto and I'm looking at this and I'm a little bit banged up and I see how bad the team is once myself or and or Aaron judge aren't really performing, you know, to our insane levels, then then I start to get a little bit worried about signing a long term deal deal there.

[00:15:35] Mat Germain: Now, having said that, I know they're going to. Allocate the assets to the team consistently. That's not really a problem. But my thought is you want to be with a smart front office. That's not just going to put, you know, names on the board and hope that, you know, someday they might end up having a bit of success.

[00:15:53] Mat Germain: I think If he's offered the same money, you know, elsewhere, he might decide to go to a team that he likes the front office's plan or future better. So I don't know exactly how much he would delve into that or how much Scott Boris would advise him on that. I think he's probably, Scott Boris is probably more worried about the market in New York and how much he can market them and get money.

[00:16:16] Mat Germain: And that's probably the way he'll spin it. But if Juan Soto wants to win more championships than the one he got in Washington, I You know, he might decide to say, okay, well, just as an example, if the Dodgers decide, you know, to give him a deal that matches what the Yankees are doing, would he go to LA? I don't know why he wouldn't.

[00:16:37] Mat Germain: Like they're a better built organization, top to bottom than the Yankees are. So, yeah. I think it's, yeah, it, it starts to ask a lot of questions. Basically.

[00:16:52] Mark Corbett: I do not see Juan Soto spending the rest of his career in New York. I could easily see if what you were saying with the Dodgers as a real possibility that that makes sense to me, uh, by the way, I want to correct myself.

[00:17:05] Mark Corbett: I was thinking Friday. For Shane Baz, but I think they're actually looking at him, uh, tomorrow night on Thursday. So, but my gosh, yes. Juan Soto. I mean, I got to see him when he's playing with the nationals and it was, uh, it was amazing. Now I was up in the nosebleed seats of the national stadium, but it was still amazing to watch that young man, even from there.

[00:17:29] Mark Corbett: I tell you what, this Ben Rice here. I'm really curious to see how he continues on. I mean, he's, he's looking pretty good here. Starting out. Let's see. He had his fifth home run of the year with a two run shot. The seventh inning, uh, yesterday, and he's had five home runs. They've come in his last five games.

[00:17:48] Mark Corbett: He's just the sixth Yankee in franchise history to hit at least five home runs in his first 19 career games. Read this, all the Yankee notes. But wow, uh, he does look like somebody who can shine a little more for the future for them, you know, whether Soto's there or not. And these are the guys that got to wake up and be stronger on a regular basis.

[00:18:11] Mark Corbett: So I hope that it's not the next few days here while

[00:18:16] Mat Germain: they're in Tampa. And you're right. They do have Spencer Jones also coming up. Who's I don't want to say he's a clone of a Aaron judge, but he's at similar stature. Uh, he's supposed to be, you know, sliding into the outfield. So if they did decide to move, uh, Aaron judge, uh, around in the outfield or to first base.

[00:18:35] Mat Germain: Uh, they'd have that option, but it's one of those things too, where, uh, injuries can change things in a hurry. So like Aaron Judge hasn't been exactly a pitcher of health and Jason Dominguez, who's another one of their top prospects, hasn't been a pitcher of health either. Neither is Jarrett Cole. There's a lot of questions on that team, but the  Rays  know all about those injury questions, right?

[00:18:59] Mark Corbett: Oh, yeah. Hmm. Oh, yeah. And anytime anybody complains about injuries, I said, just, just walk away. Okay. I would raise no, nothing about it. Right. So just walk away. If you want to tell me about your team and injuries, I'm not interested to hear it whatsoever. So, uh, once we get past these Yankees, man, we still got, uh, we still got some running to do here.

[00:19:22] Mark Corbett: What we're going to play Cleveland and they're coming here. Then we got to go to New York. Then we get, I don't know if I'd call it a respite, visiting your fair country in Toronto, the Blue Jays. The series I will may go see will be the Reds in the race. And yeah, because I want to see L. A. De La Cruz. Yes.

[00:19:47] Mark Corbett: That guy is just amazing to me. And this new guy they got. Reese Hines, I mean, he was two for three, I think Monday night, and that included a 421 foot home run. Yep. Then last night, he had a double, a triple, and a home run. No single, so he didn't have a single. I guess he's too good for that hit a 458 foot home run.

[00:20:15] Mark Corbett: So I want to see Ellie De La Cruz. I want to see re signs and, you know, I don't want to see him beat us up, but man, when there's talent out there who perform like that at the bat, I want to see them.

[00:20:26] Mat Germain: Yeah. Ellie De La Cruz is a little bit like Juan Soto in that he looks like a man child out there. He's just having a lot of fun.

[00:20:32] Mat Germain: He's a lot of energy, always amped. Uh, just seems to have a really powerful stance at the plate where they, when he hits a ball, there's not much left, you know, in terms of energy could create, um, that that's missing. So, um, yeah, they're, they're great. Like, I don't know much about Reese Hines to be quite honest.

[00:20:52] Mat Germain: I haven't seen him play much, even in the minors. So, um. Uh, that would be a really good game to see for sure, uh, with the Reds. I, I didn't, honestly, I hadn't looked far enough because I'm so deep into the draft and to the trades and, uh, you know, getting through the All Star game that I hadn't looked much beyond, uh, the All Star game in terms of the scheduling.

[00:21:13] Mat Germain: Uh, I do know July, there's a lot of off days, right? Um, for the  Rays . So you're, you're talking most players, the ones that aren't in the all star game, we'll get the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18 off. And then they get the 29th off as well. After that, you know, after a good 10 day stretch where they'll be playing. So you're going to get into August with a really fresh group.

[00:21:37] Mat Germain: And then your first day in August is a day off and then you have the Astros, then you have another day off. So, so, you know, that to me is when the  Rays . Are gonna hit the go, right? Is, is like, okay, you're, you're the 6th of August. From that point onwards, you have five days off before the end of the season.

[00:22:01] Mat Germain: So you're basically, you know, you better have your ducks in a row and everything lined up, uh, or else you'll sink or swim, right? Um, so that to me is, is going to be a lot of fun when we do a show that week. Uh, we'll be talking about a lot of trades, a lot of moves, a lot of promotions, the motions, the draft, all those pieces, you know, lined up and we'll be able to look at the raise and go, okay.

[00:22:25] Mat Germain: This is where they're headed. This is how they feel about 2024. And this is how they feel about 2025 because they'll have set it up in a way that tells us all that information.

[00:22:37] Mark Corbett: Fun times, my friend. Okay. Well, let's take a look. I know one thing you and I were talking about before the show is talking about the future of the raise.

[00:22:48] Mark Corbett: And part of that's about where there will be in the future.

[00:22:52] Mat Germain: Yeah,

[00:22:53] Mark Corbett: I know you've been following closely and I somewhat, not as much recently, but Colleen Wright, uh, from the, uh, the writer of the journalist from the Tampa Bay times, she has been posting on and off about. Everything's going on with the St.

[00:23:08] Mark Corbett: Pete council and getting things done with the  Rays  to get a stadium set up over there. Uh, there's some back and forth and then there sounds like there's some extension to when they were actually going to meet and review. And it almost seemed inevitable because, I mean, Mat, you and I talked about this before, there's just so much paperwork that had to be looked through and for anybody to give it any real thought.

[00:23:34] Mark Corbett: Uh, thought whatsoever, it was going to take a little time

[00:23:39] Mat Germain: and, and, you know, what the interesting thing is, Mark, like we talked about, I think we were talking with Colleen about how, you know, at the bare minimum, if counselors are going to actually vote for this deal to take place, they need to make it look Like they, they fought some battles and won some, right?

[00:23:59] Mat Germain: So as minimal as they may seem, it Maters. So basically like the, the cost overruns being covered by the raise is a good one. There's a couple of other changes that we noted in that podcast with Colleen, but the most recent ones, uh, include a 10, 000 square foot, fresh food and produce retailer. But the caveat with that is it doesn't have to be built until 2045.

[00:24:23] Mat Germain: Bye. Just, you know, that's a win. Sure. But, but you're not going to see it for a few decades. And then the 2, 500 square foot daycare, childcare preschool. Now that one, I think is more immediate. I don't know if there's an actual date associated with it. Uh, and it makes sense, right? Because if you're increasing the number of people in an area, you need to make sure you have some basic services lined up that they can use.

[00:24:50] Mat Germain: Um, so they're kind of the things that we overlook a lot of times. Uh, when we're talking about developments and adding people to an area, uh, but that there are the things that the city has to worry about. Right? So it makes sense. Uh, I just found it interesting that there was nothing to do with the stadium.

[00:25:06] Mat Germain: It has everything to do with what's around the stadium.

[00:25:11] Mark Corbett: Yeah, that's, well, that's how they worked it too. They, they came up with two different workshops. One was going to be at the stadium and the other was going to be about the development around there. Yeah. It seemed like originally mad way. I read it.

[00:25:24] Mark Corbett: It was almost like you're trying to make these exclusive of one another, but they really kind of interdependent to, for one to happen the other. I mean, I guess if there was a way to get the development without the  Rays  stadium, they would do it. And, uh, plus, uh, we'll find out what's going to happen as far as any kind of commitment to raise had to say, yes, we'll stay there.

[00:25:47] Mark Corbett: And we, in the new stadium for at least 20 years. Or whatever, but I, I'm looking forward to finding out what comes from these next meetings. And I do believe it's getting some due diligence, but as you said, they really had to do this if nothing else for appearances sake.

[00:26:03] Mat Germain: Yeah, exactly. I do think that what they're looking at during the meeting is, uh, how they're going to finance things.

[00:26:11] Mat Germain: So they're going to talk about the bonds that they need for the stadium and the bonds that they need for the infrastructure, uh, around it and, and under it. So, yeah, it'll be fun. And, and, uh, To me, these things are always kind of interesting to see, you know, all the details that go into a deal that of this magnitude, which let's face it, like how many projects take place in the Tampa St.

[00:26:35] Mat Germain: Pete region of this magnitude, right? Uh, they don't come around very often. So it's, it's fun to see how they develop, how they end up, you know, deciding what they do. And, uh, to be quite honest, a lot of the successes and failures depend on the people that decide to buy in. And, um, and that includes entrepreneurs and, and people moving into the area.

[00:26:56] Mat Germain: They're the ones who give it life, right? So that would be interesting.

[00:27:01] Mark Corbett: Well, we will certainly keep our ears to the ground and have Colleen back here. If she can be available. And I believe she would from, uh, from what she said at the last visit. So I'm excited about that too. Alrighty. You know, one thing I did want to make sure we mentioned was that all star game is we've got, uh, I think we've got another guy going up there.

[00:27:21] Mark Corbett: Braden Coles. You remember his name? Braden Coles. I do. Yep. Well, he's the ball guy. He's the one who says all of the poor souls in the bullpen at Tropicana field. Since we don't have a proper bullpen,

[00:27:37] Mat Germain: he's going to get a golden glove some year. They have to have a golden glove for those guys. They do great work.

[00:27:41] Mat Germain: Our girls, sometimes they're girls.

[00:27:43] Mark Corbett: That's right.

[00:27:44] Mat Germain: Yeah.

[00:27:45] Mark Corbett: But if you've watched any of the games at the Trop, where you've been there and watched it on TV, you'll see this young man, or like I said, young ladies out there and they, they scattered. They have to, to, to be able to protect the, uh, the bullpen, you know, over in that area.

[00:28:00] Mark Corbett: And I, that's one thing, Mat, I can't wait to see change is to get rid of that dangerous area. Of a bullpen because, you know, you see outfielders having to chase down a ball in the, in the foul zone, but there could be tripping over a bullpen mound or something along those lines. And I'll be so happy to see that go away because to me, it's just been a disaster.

[00:28:24] Mark Corbett: Um, I'll make 1 more real quick comment about that. Had a lady on here recently. Who's with the USA women's national baseball team, a pitcher by the name of Maggie Meidlinger. And what I love about Maggie is she, in her career beyond baseball is she's an architect and she works on ball fields. The answer I said, you doing anything about making sure there's safe place for the pitchers?

[00:28:47] Mark Corbett: And she goes, we're making sure we got pitching tunnels set up. I said, okay.

[00:28:51] Mat Germain: Yeah, that works. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. It definitely, you know, I remember back in the old days, it was more common to have, you know, a lot of the, the stadiums with those, uh, but I definitely liked more the stadiums that, that had the, the bullpens in the outfield.

[00:29:10] Mat Germain: And then yet the, uh, You know, the outfield fans heckling them like crazy and, and, uh, throwing things at them sometimes, which got out of hand, but it made for great video. And then you had the golf carts driving them in sometimes, which was a big, uh, controversy. Oh, why are they getting driven in? But, but then, you know, it was also the advertising on those carts and, uh, it was just crazy.

[00:29:36] Mark Corbett: That's the fun of baseball. There's always something new.

[00:29:40] Mat Germain: That's right.

[00:29:41] Mark Corbett: So what else is going on, Mat? What have we not talked about?

[00:29:45] Mat Germain: Um, I think the, the big elephant in the room when it comes to the  Rays  is, uh, is how aggressive they're going to be after their next move. So I think there's a lot of people that are Anticipating the raise being sellers, which I think is what you were alluding to before, where if you start moving Randy Rosarena, Yandy Diaz, those kinds of players, um, you're, you're kind of signaling that you're no longer comfortable with the direction of the team as it is, and you're looking to change, right?

[00:30:18] Mat Germain: Um, I don't think personally the  Rays  are either in a financial position that they need to do that, or that they're ready to hand the reins to the next group or core that would have to take over. There's a few pieces like there's Junior Caminero that you could point to who's back in action now and, and can, um, You can dream on there's Curtis Meade having some success in triple a, but we saw, you know, the defensive issues that he has, where he's going to play, but outside of those two, and maybe you could point to Ronnie Simone, who's, you know, not talk about a lot, but his bad is, is pretty legit.

[00:30:58] Mat Germain: Um, there, there's just nobody really tearing down the, you know, the. The wall. So to me, the  Rays  have a close knit enough group that they can write out the season and hope that these guys with Kevin cash and the staff can work through it. To the point of, even if they get just the, you know, the wild card, anything can happen.

[00:31:18] Mat Germain: We've seen it with the Phillies. We've seen it with anyone else. You get Jeffrey Springs back. Maybe the rotation gets super hot. The pen finally acts the way that they're supposed to. And, um, and the gate, the  Rays  go on a run. And, and, and then, you know, you can end up being anywhere. Uh, I think they would, they're more well with that, but it's still a question.

[00:31:41] Mat Germain: It's still something that is valid that people are asking, you know, and, and especially on WDAE, if you listen, you know, you'll have one group that are completely on board with the raise. You know, playing it out and you have another one that's, Oh, no, they're going to sell. They're going to continue, you know, after Darren Savali and Phil Mayton and the rest of them, um, that they'll, they'll continue tearing it down.

[00:32:02] Mat Germain: Uh, I just, I don't know, maybe, maybe my, my glass is too half full, but, uh, I think with as long as, as Tash, Neander and, and Snyder are on board, I don't see them ever being complete sellers. Um, and, and, you know, rightfully so because they can run a team in the right direction for a long enough period of time to keep them in the game.

[00:32:27] Mat Germain: And, and, uh, you know, the one game out of 500, they could get back to it today. There's enough fight in the  Rays . If they end up healthy enough that I know they can go on a run. Every team seems to go on that. The  Rays  haven't yet. You mentioned that they've been winning a lot more series than they're losing recently.

[00:32:46] Mat Germain: That's a start. Um, but I'm talking about a good 11, 12 game winning street. Like that really tends to elevate a team's spirit. Right. And, uh, and I think that's what I think most  Rays  fans are looking for most of all with the raise is just to, to kind of. Amp things up to the point where they know the  Rays  are going to score enough run to support the pitching.

[00:33:11] Mark Corbett: I hope that we keep the core that we have for the outfield at the right down and going back to what you were saying too, as far as cash and Neander, I think there's not going to be a fire cell. They're going to keep a core. I mean, did, did I understand you correctly?

[00:33:28] Mat Germain: Yeah. Right.

[00:33:29] Mark Corbett: And I, I see that happening.

[00:33:31] Mark Corbett: I, I'm taking a quick glance here while we're talking to the game tonight here on July 10th, it's the bottom of the fifth and what seed razor down two to one Yankees has swapped out pitcher Marcus Stroman after just four innings. Let's see, how did he do?

[00:33:50] Mat Germain: They loaded the bases and so they forced their hand.

[00:33:54] Mat Germain: Uh, that points to how the Yankees are feeling right now, right? Anything that jeopardizes a lead, even as small as a one run lead, they will, uh, They will act on immediately. And I think they're not very happy with where Mat Marcus Stroman is right now or recently. So, uh, the  Rays  are putting pressure on them and, and they're, they're walking, which I love.

[00:34:18] Mat Germain: Like he's got earned the walk and, uh, you know, Brendan Lau had the single before that. Um, they just scored a run earlier in the ending on the force out, uh, but, but they're getting, you know, they're getting action, which I, to me, that's what I mean is, is the  Rays  are going to put up significant. At bats to work pitchers hard.

[00:34:39] Mat Germain: They just haven't always been getting the successful, uh, production, uh, outside of that, like sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, it's becoming more consistent. So that's why I'm saying that I don't see them selling. I just think they're going to, they're going to hope that everything starts clicking in the key moments.

[00:34:57] Mat Germain: And, uh, and, and Brandon Lau being healthy helps significantly.

[00:35:01] Mark Corbett: Oh, yeah. I mean, I was looking at the numbers earlier today, as far as number of home runs that the Razor had. I know he's like, I don't know if he's like number six, he's somewhere in there. He's obviously he's done very, very well with the team, maybe more than that, but.

[00:35:17] Mark Corbett: He's just continued to, let's see, here we go. Most home runs raised history. Brandon allowed 113 and let's see just above him. It's been Zobris with 114 and Upton 118. So that's, but still that puts him six of the, but yeah, Brandon, come on, man. He's, he's, he's amazing. Now. I was wondering, I'm just looking at the game right now on game day.

[00:35:42] Mark Corbett: So it's probably about 20 seconds later than reality. What's happening.

[00:35:48] Mat Germain: They just changed it. They had Tim Hill come in and he's throwing strikes, trying to get, uh, trying to get Josh low to the ground out. I think he's, Hey, he's pitching him low. And, uh, they're just looking for, uh, for a double play or, uh, an out.

[00:36:05] Mat Germain: I have, wait, is there two outs? There's two outs. So he's just looking for the one out and he got it. So Josh Lowe just struck out. So he got, they, they made the right move, but now they're good. They're it's a pen day for them. They have four innings to fill with the pen. Generally speaking, the  Rays  have, uh, Have had success with, uh, oh wait, Josh was the second.

[00:36:24] Mat Germain: That was the second out. See, I knew they were looking for the double play. You called it brother. You called it. Yeah. It's all good. Uh, so they, yeah, Randy's gonna, gonna hopefully punch one out, but, uh, no, that would be great. I'd love to see it.

[00:36:40] Mark Corbett: Oh, you and I both.

[00:36:41] Mat Germain: Yeah. The, um, The great thing is like with this raise Yankees series before the All Star game is that the  Rays  get to add punches to the punching bag, right?

[00:36:53] Mat Germain: And everybody loves to beat up on the Yankees when they're having struggles. I see it on Twitter on X. And, um, you know, I feel for Aaron Boone because he just, you can tell he gets older by the day. Every time they go through these things and, um, I don't know that sometimes there's just no right way to handle things and everybody will jump on anything.

[00:37:17] Mat Germain: You do, uh, Randy ended up lining out. So they're out of the ending. Yeah, they, the Yankees have this aura about them that just, you know, I think I mentioned this to you before the show where I think the egos. Uh, end up having them, you know, like that, that Spider Man thing where they're pointing at each other.

[00:37:39] Mat Germain: They both, they're both Spider Man. Uh, and it's like, no, it's your fault. No, it's your fault. No, it's your fault. No, it's your fault. And everybody starts squeezing the bats harder and trying to do too much. And the pressure there is just, I don't think we can even, even though we talk about it, we know it exists.

[00:37:56] Mat Germain: We can't really quantify it, right? What, what it actually feels like. Um, but, but they're the level of pressure and the level of media scrutiny there is and the amount of media, uh, scrutiny that there is, is just overwhelming sometimes for them. So, uh, I'm not surprised things are happening there on that front.

[00:38:16] Mat Germain: I'm not surprised that, that, you know, they're, they're sliding back from the heights that they were at. Now there's no, no. Anybody that would tell you that they can't get back to those levels and end up back in, in the top of the race. But, um, I, I think the more you look at the health of Juan Soto and what's going on with him, that the less slight and, and the pitching, you know, sliding back along with that, it, it's hard to envision them going on much more of a run, though I think they're just now more of a wild card team than a division winning team.

[00:38:48] Mark Corbett: Wow. Yeah. Or those are just. Have blown it out is continue to grow and grow and grow. So, yeah, well. It's exciting times. Like I said before, man, I'm really looking forward to see how the rest of the series comes out. Uh, let's keep pulling for our  Rays , see what happens. And it looks like I said, Baz might be on the mound tomorrow night.

[00:39:07] Mark Corbett: I'm hoping that we have a win tonight and tomorrow. Like, can you imagine that love a night? I would love a good sweep of the Yankees at home. That would be. Like I said, everybody loves to punch. Well, let's go brother. All right, man. Well, thank you all again for joining us here today on baseball biz on deck.

[00:39:27] Mark Corbett: And as always, we'll give you a big raise up. Thank you. And enjoy the rest of the week. And hopefully we get to see the Yankees get beat again and again. And if you're going to be at the trap on Saturday. Just remember, you'll also get to see Evan Longoria with a ceremonial first pitch. And if you look a little more closely, you'd probably see where he has set aside some time to set, to sign some autographs.

[00:39:54] Mark Corbett: So enjoy yourself. So Mat, thanks again, brother. Not a

[00:39:58] Mat Germain: problem. Get that memorabilia out for Evan.

[00:40:03] Mark Corbett: Okay, thank you all again once again for joining us here on Baseball Biz on Deck and just remember you can find us on iHeartRadio, Spotify, oh Google, can you find us on Google? Sure, we're on YouTube for that Mater and of course at BaseballBizOnDeck.

[00:40:18] Mark Corbett: com. So, thanks again for joining us here. And we look forward to talking with you again real soon. Special thanks to XTaKeRuX for the music Rocking Forward.