Toronto Blue Jays - Brent Cardy visits BaseballBiz On Deck - First games of 2023

Toronto Blue Jays - Brent Cardy, April 16, 2023

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to Baseball Biz on Deck at I'm Mark Corbett host. And with me today, I have that perennial guest from Toronto, not from Toronto, from London, up in Ontario. Mr. Brent Cardy. Brent is the purveyor of all things, knowledgeable with the Canada Baseball, and certainly with Toronto Blue Jays. Hey, Brent, how you doing today, man?

[00:00:28] Brent Cardy: 

Corby. I'm great bro. Good to see you. How are you? 

Mark Corbett: It's fantastic, brother. Having another wonderful day here in Sunny Tampa. It's nice. What can I say? It's a good day. We've got a team that's doing fairly well, The Rays, and a good start to the season. 

[00:00:46] Brent Cardy: Yeah, no complaints. You guys came to Toronto 13 and oh, you beat up on a bunch of teams that were underperforming as you should have.

And you lost two to two pitchers who were [00:01:00] underperforming. And you beat a guy who was supposed to perform today who just we can get into it has not been up to snuff this season. But yeah, no, so far if you're a race man, you gotta be happy. Obviously the Jays, they pick up Kevin Kiermaier.

 We can definitely talk about that, but Kiermaier been very good so far this season and obviously you guys got great pitch. McClanahan was great today and yeah pretty good start. I gotta think if you're a Jays fan and a Rays fan, you're pretty happy with that. 

[00:01:31] Mark Corbett: Yeah, thanks have been quite well obviously you guys put a stop to that role.

 13 in a straight wins. That was amazing. And like I said, a lot of criticism went on the race about that. One thing they couldn't really argue about, and that was the run deferential, whether you think a team is great or not. It was interesting to see that the, with the race, it was almost like, I think about 70 runs plus over all the all the games we'd [00:02:00] had with the other teams at that point.

[00:02:02] Brent Cardy: Yeah you can argue that again, once, if you're not playing good teams, you're supposed to beat up on them. You're supposed to not give up those runs Tampa did what they did and I imagine when Toronto gets to the Trop, it'll be the same thing. It'll be the house of horse with the Jays and the Rays could probably take two outta three.

And balance schedule. I'm really curious to see how that plays out for all the clubs in the American League East this year. Yankees included. I don't know. I think we're gonna, it's gonna be a race. I would say it's a three team race for the East. I I don't, I'm not putting the Red Sox up there or the Orioles.

 But I definitely think the Orioles mark definitely could be in the wild card on Oh yeah. Yeah. You've gotta keep your eye on them. But so you gotta be happy. You guys. Consistently the organization consistently puts out pitchers. They take [00:03:00] truck drivers school teachers, olive garden chefs, and they turn 'em into great pitchers and yeah.

 That's how they make their money. The race have done a good job. There's a lot of criticism about what the pay is and what they spend, but I look at it, it is just smart spending. I used to really criticize, I've said this probably too much already. I used to criticize Erik Neander the guy who was actually making all those decisions with the race.

[00:03:27] Mark Corbett: But they've all played out pretty well so kudos to him. Also, now that we've done the Mutual Admiration Society portion of the show we can dig a little more, you. I really do wanna focus on the Blue Jays on this show. Yeah. Because like you said, this is gonna be a good year for 'em.

 You've got a great team. If I'm looking at the pitching, I know you've got some guys that are out ill too, but you've got Kaci. Wow. Manoa outside of today. I guess he's been pretty good at today. We'll talk about that a little bit too. That was not his best [00:04:00] effort. Barios. I know he's, you guys have been a little iffy with him, but he looked pretty good a couple of days ago when he pitched against the race.

He did get was a Guasman and Bassitt. Who am else am I thinking of? Oh Ryu,. Is he gonna be back This. 

[00:04:15] Brent Cardy: Yep. Now he's at Tommy John. They're thinking after the trade deadline, he should be back. And I'd agree with that. He's not a hard throwing guy. Yeah. So I would say that timeline makes sense. 

[00:04:28] Mark Corbett: So is that, what is your rotation?

[00:04:33] Brent Cardy: as my buddy is my co-host Dave Glasser and one of our great buddies, Brent Gar we call him Yusei Kikuchi? He is actually a fifth starter. Like he looked like an ace yesterday when he picked, but he's actually a fifth starter. He's coming off a terrible year.

 After signing a three year 36 million contract. The year prior to that, he was an all-star for the Mariners and he ended up in the bullpen [00:05:00] cuz he struggled and a lot of people believe. Pitch clock in his hard work during the off season are definitely gonna make an impact. You saw yesterday, yeah.

 He was zipping in his fastball at 95, sometimes 97. He starts at 98 and then he be throwing a, I don't, there's a debate whether it's a cutter or a slider, but it heads towards the plate. And then if you're a right-handed batter, it goes to the inside and looks like a strike. So you're, he's generating a ton of swing of misses on.

And he is working quickly as well. So far, so good for Kki this year, and I know everybody in my workplace I joke about Kikuchi being a Cy Young Award winner, but the dude has electric stuff and he is the number five starter. So if and when Ryu comes back, The Jays are gonna have a decision to make if all five starters are healthy, and they're being somewhat competitive.

Do you use Ryu as a long man or is there somebody else, [00:06:00] like a Berrios or Bassitt? You're not BS ambassadors are both making over 20 million a year, so I guess you're not gonna put them in the pen. They're gonna have a decision to make a coco keeps pitching like this. The question is, can he do that?

 We're gonna find out. Then you look at Berrios. You talked about Berrios who put Friday night he takes the the comebacker from Yandy Diaz off the knee, and that kind of shortened his night a bit. But prior to that, he was not good. He made two road starts and essentially he wasn't walking guys cor, but he was leaving the fastball in the mail.

And guys, Tearing off on it. His start against Anaheim, he used the slurve a little bit. So the slider curve ball kind of mix generated a ton of swing and misses on that. So if he sticks, if he has the fastball command and then he can finish guys with the slur, he'll be successful. [00:07:00] He just has to make competitive s you go to Chris Bassitt.

Chris Bassitt has eight pitches. 

[00:07:11] Mark Corbett: Eight. How do you have eight? I don't understand. That's new math to me when it comes to pitching. You have to explain that. 

[00:07:13] Brent Cardy: Yeah. And let's make it even weirder. He's using pitch com to call his pitches. So he is not letting the catcher call the game. This last two starts have been good.

Six innings, three runs, both starts, but one of them listened to Detroit Tigers hard for me to put stock in that with the way their offense is. So let's see what happens when I don't think he lines up for Houston. Gotta think about that for a minute. Yes, he does. He'll be facing Houston I think on Tuesday.

So we'll have to see how he makes So against the asterisks who are pretty good. And then the Yankees, I think he'll get the final game though. That'll be gossman. But let's see what happens at Vassie. He might John Schneider might just be like, get rid of the pitch bomb. Let [00:08:00] the catcher call in the game, or, I don't know.

Let's see what happens with that. Curious out. His first start against St. Louis was terrible. He got the ball and the, he was leaving pitchers in the middle of the plate. Cardinals were tearing the cover up ball. Yeah. Kevin Gausman’s been outstanding. Last start, you pitch eight innings.

He's been consistent. Fastball, high splitter, low, generating a ton of swing and miss, and then Manoah, as you saw today was not good. He's missing big time. And we don't know whether he's trying to get extension on his legs and that's why, or it's just control or it's just mechanics.

He's fighting his mechanics out there. This is a guy that Corby was talking a lot of smack around the league and. Gerrit Cole can attest some of the Boston Red Sox can attest and he's gonna be facing [00:09:00] cool this coming Saturday in New York. So that'll be interesting. This is a guy that definitely needs to get on track, but I do wonder he pitched 196 innings last year and didn't have a ton of time in the minor leagues.

He came up pretty quickly. Let's see what happens. Hopefully he figures it out, but if he doesn't, And he continues to struggle. We'll have to see. It felt like he made some in game adjustments today, so I'm encouraged by that. But then there was a point to where they're throwing the ball around. He pulls up his high socks over his knees.

I don't know if his knees are bugging him, if it's backs bugging him. He's a bigger guy. But I don't know. i was, he, the last few starts have not been good. The starting on St. Louis wasn't good. He pitched six innings of one rub wall against Kansas City. And again, no disrespect to the royals, but they're not an offensive powerhouse.

 So there's your rotation in a [00:10:00] nutshell. It can be very good and for five days and it could be a rollercoaster the next five. So I'll have to see how it goes. 

[00:10:08] Mark Corbett: You're talking about what you're gonna do if you have what, six quality pitchers. Yeah. And that's a problem.

Not everybody has, but you were mentioning Kansas City and it made me think of something that I heard from Ryan Yarborough, who used to be a Tampa Bay Ray. He's now pitching. Yeah. How did 

[00:10:26] Brent Cardy: Kansas City, how did he become a Ray? That took me by surprise or Royal. I don't know myself. He wasn't playing at the level that we wanted.

[00:10:35] Mark Corbett: I cannot remember if they actually DFA’ed him or what. But the thing about was the Rays are very selective about what they've gotta do with the talent they have. And Yas just wasn't performing consistently well and he had in the past. I hope that he will in the future. I'm not sure what happened there, but one of the things that's interesting with the Royals of the day, they inserted him in the middle of the.

And it's [00:11:00] okay. And they said, how about that? How do you deal with that, Ryan? He says I used to be with the Rays. You learn how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I said, that's a good one. I thought that's pretty good. Cuz he'd been in a situation where there were starters relievers weren't always definitely relievers.

 You got bullpen days. Not to go too much on this, but we were talking about the World Baseball Classic at you now before we actually started the show. And you looked. Pan. They had a fresh pitcher ever inning coming up out there. It's, the philosophy was quite different.

 Of course they had the depth and such for that sharp sharp period of time. But it is interesting and you guys are getting back to you all and Alec Manoah. Wow. Smart Alec, right? He's beloved amongst all the other teams in the league. And I don't know, brother, I don't know what you guys are gonna do with him.

 I, he must be [00:12:00] having some kind of difficulty physically or otherwise, like we were talking about with pulling the socks. But he needs a coach to get him through this. I think somebody who can take him out of his own head. 

[00:12:12] Brent Cardy: I think the other part to that too is you're looking at a guy who legitimately came in and started throwing quality starts. He hasn't struggled yet. He didn't struggle in 2022. He was phenomenal. This is the first time in his career he struggled and every pitcher is gonna struggle. Yeah, the great ones always did. Halliday did for a little bit. Roger Clemens struggled here and there. It's about how you bounce back from the struggle that makes your career.

And I think Alex's gonna figure it out. He's too smart of a guy. No, not. I just I think this will make him, this experience should, and I hope it makes him a little more humble to where he is not running his mouth and after he strikes guys, bating a dollar 60 out and whatnot [00:13:00] focus on the game.

Focus on what you can do, execute your pitches. And do it again five days later. You're doing all the nonsense. 

[00:13:08] Mark Corbett: Yeah. Teach that to all the youth in the world. While you're at it, I'm trying one at a time. No it's fun watching the Jays and I look at that lineup you have, Hey, my gosh, George Springer, somebody who is an Anathema for me cuz he came from that team, the Astros years ago. Bo Bichette, Vlad Jr, Matt Chapman and I wanna hear, talk a little bit about him in a moment too. Alejandro Kirk, that man, you never realize if you haven't looked at baseball, what he can do.

It's just amazing. The physicality of his appearance has absolutely nothing to do with what he executes on this out there on the field. Yeah. Whit Merrifield Espinal. Luplow and, oh yeah. I'm sorry. You got a new center fielder out there sometimes. KK [00:14:00] Kevin Kiermaier. Tell me about how are the Blue Jay fans taking in KK?

[00:14:07] Brent Cardy: They love them. They, what's not to like about Kevin Kiermaier, he plays great center field. The ladies think he's a good looking guy and he's fast. He's a hell of a batter, and he is a great defender. There was I think it was opening day. Merrifield was on second, Kiermaier, was on first.

They're in St. Louis at Busch Stadium. George Springer's at the plate. He hits a Texas Leaguer Drops probably Just over the shortstop’s head and left center. Merrifield picks it up down the line. Kiermaier. I swear to God, mark was just, he read it the whole time. I'm sitting here, I'm texting my buddies.

I'm like, how the hell did Kiermaier read that? He read that thing the whole time. Merrifield hesitated. Merrifield still scores. Cuz he is got wheels. Kiermaier is at third. No problem. And I was just like, [00:15:00] Okay, we're gonna be fine. And opening night in Rogers Centre Kiermaier jumps over the center field wall, takes one home, runaway, and the crowd goes insane. All 42,000. Welcome to Toronto. Welcome back to Toronto but no he is done very well. He's a, he is a good so ball player. He plays the game the right way and Toronto fans are gonna love him. And he might, I don't know, I think he might sign 20 24, 20 25 if he wants a multiyear deal. 2023 is a good year for him. I know it's early, but I think it's a good fit for sure. 

[00:15:42] Mark Corbett: I look forward to seeing what he does. He always makes the game exciting. He's a bit of a showboat sometimes, and that's fine by me, some of the theatrics out there in Centerfield. But I love it.

 That's part of his game and he keeps it entertaining. I'm, I'll miss him here, there's no doubt. But we've been very [00:16:00] fortunate with who we do have with the Ray. Tell me a little bit more about your team. Is there somebody in the Blue Jays that you know has been overlooked or somebody has said that, eh they're really gonna shine this year?

You may not have seen them before. 

[00:16:12] Brent Cardy: So let me give you a couple of names. I'm gonna start with Dalton Varsho. Dalton Varsho came from Arizona for two pretty solid ball players and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Who is playing left field for Toronto who could hit very well. And Gabby Moreno, who's in the top rated prospect in the journal.

Blue Jay system, a catcher. And they're now both playing in Arizona and we got var. Who was a gold glove fund list in the outfield. He would actually catch from time to him. He caught 31 games last year, so I thought that was just fascinating. So Varsho this year has come in and he's been a pretty mellow guy.

He doesn't say too much. He's playing the left field that he hasn't played a tunnel left he'll play a [00:17:00] center and he'll play a left. Today was the only game that he's had off so far. But there's a lot of really good things he does. He'll bunt for a single, he's got. He hit 27 of them last year playing in national League, west Ballpark.

So just imagine, wow, the dam the damage he can do to the American League east. And he's played really well defensively. He's done a lot of sa things. This guy is a bulldog and he's gonna play a lot for this team. And he plays hard. And Toronto fans really appreciate guys who come to town, don't say too much and play hard, and Marshall fits that bell.

I'm curious to see how he progresses. He's still a young guy and the Js have him on under control for three more years, I believe. And you mentioned Bob Biche and everybody talks about Vladi Guerrero Jr. Everybody's a fan of Vladimir Guerrero jr., but Bo Bichette for the Tampa Bay fans [00:18:00] is a Tampa Bay native who's led the major leagues and hits for the past three seasons.

 Picked the defensive liability out of it. He's worked as a house off to become a solid defender, but the things he can do with the. With two strikes. There's no better two strike hitter in baseball. And this guy right now will win. He's gonna win a batting title. The Jays bought his arbitration year, so he signed a three year deal, 33 million.

 He's gonna get paid, come free agency. And I don't know who's gonna pay him, but he's gonna get paid a lot. Some you could make the argument. That maybe the James should have extended Bo first. I think Bo just has a little bit more maturity, a little bit more clutch than Vladdy does. Vlad is a phenomenal ball player and he's going to continue to get better.

But I think Bo just has that IT factor a little bit more. I think he wants [00:19:00] it a little bit more. I could be wrong. He’s played very well. You mentioned Chappy, Matt Chapman. He is in his walk here. He's figured out the toe tap and his approach has been awesome the other way.

So let's see how that goes. The jury's got a 2015 Josh Donaldson version of Matt Chapman. They'd be ecstatic. Yeah. And yeah, no it's a good club. They've done a really good job building this team up and from LA they've made some changes. Teoscar Hernandez got traded to Seattle for Eric Swanson.

We mentioned Varsho, the Upfield defense with Kiermaier and Varsho. Is a lot better they move Springer to so I think it's a lot better. I think the middle infield has a lot of versatility which is good. It's a good time to be a Jay's fan. 

[00:19:58] Mark Corbett: It's, it is exciting [00:20:00] watching you guys. And you talk about Bo Bob Boche.

It is amazing to see what he does. It's a star as both defensively and offensively out there at shortstop. He moves quickly, man. He moves very quickly. Yeah, and he just hit a number this week too, didn't he? 

[00:20:14] Brent Cardy: 500 R 

[00:20:15] Mark Corbett: bs. That's it. Wow, brother. That's outstanding too. To see the, a young man that early in his life, I think he said was it a 470 games or was it 407?

I'm juxtaposing numbers as far as games he's played with at that point. Anyway, with with the Toronto, let's see, I can't remember. Anyway, but outstanding performance, so that's great to see. There's been some changes though made on the team, but there's also been some, made some changes.

To the theater where that team plays. And we look at what's happening there. You guys played 10 games on the road to start the season. Remind me, I want, I talked to you about the balance schedule before we close on all this later on, [00:21:00] because there's something with the Marlins will say but you guys had to be on the road for the first 10 games.

So opening day, good lord. Slightly delayed for Toronto. Man, what was that? 

[00:21:11] Brent Cardy: That's your point, but shit, I have to correct myself. Bo Bichette, He's got 505 hits. He's played 409 games, so I had to correct myself. 

10 games on the road. They dealt with it. They were together in spring training and John Schneider the manager, Reina quoted as saying, this is good for our club.

It brings the guys closer together. They're gonna have another one next year because face. Two or phase three of the renovation will occur after the season. So they'll take all the seats around behind home plate, they'll face them towards the infield and they'll make rich people levels, or all the rich people hang out and drink wine and shit.

 Yeah, no it was fun. St. Louis, Kansas City, so there's not much travel between the two parks there. And then they had to go to Ana. [00:22:00] Which wasn't a bad thing because I think they're gonna everybody's wearing sleeves and tubes at in St. Louis in Kansas City. So get back to the warmer weather and then come to Toronto or the warm it was.

25 degrees Celsius today. You can transfer that in Fahrenheit if you wanna. It was warm. But they got to the warmer weather and now they're gonna go to Houston and then New York after that. Yeah, no, the road trip is fine. They brought everybody together and they're gonna get another road trip outta the way and spend a little more time in Toronto towards the end of the 

[00:22:41] Mark Corbett: I was interested to see what guys were, what you guys were doing.

Like I said, again with Rogers Centre, and part of that today is when I was watching the game, I didn't realize that the, was it the Marriott or some hotel that you actually have built into the stadium? That was ex I heard somebody say, oh yeah. Rooms are about a [00:23:00] thousand dollars a night.

I dunno if that's accurate or not about that. Good Lord, man. Yeah. 

[00:23:04] Brent Cardy: $500 for the games with a look to the field. 

[00:23:10] Mark Corbett: Oh I remember years ago I had to, I was in sales and I had to go to Green Bay. And I went there the day after a Packers’ game at Lambeau Stadium. And I stayed at this place was a large hotel, but I went in there, it was like a mausoleum because everybody had just vacated from before.

So the first night, because it was the night after of the game, it was like $300 a night. And this is 10 years ago, and then it was like $75 per night the next couple of nights. Oh my little crazy little difference. Yeah. So I'm not surprised that they were gonna charge a pretty penny there in Toronto for that, but that, it looks exciting, man.

[00:23:58] Brent Cardy: It looks like a lot of fun things there. New areas to, for people even just wanna stand and watch the game. Some standing room only stuff, some crazy things. 

Yeah, no, they they done a [00:24:00] good job. There's the right. In left field corners of the 500 level, nobody was sitting there. So they've put it a kids area, they call it the park social where you can get ice cream and stuff.

And then the other one, they call it the Corona Rooftop patio. And yeah, I guess you can drink Coronas and watch the game and look into the skyline and hang out with your friends and don't watch the ballgame cuz that's what it's all about. And then they, Redid the corners, like you said, for standing room only, which looks pretty cool if you like that thing, if you like to stand and do that.

I don't know.why you would buy seats to a game just to hang out in a standing room only area, but it's 2023 and I guess who might a judge? But yeah, no, they've done a good job and it, it looks cool. They've done a nice job elevating the ball pens. I thought that was nice. They even have.

I think it's in left center. I could be wrong, but [00:25:00] there's a tap and go. So you go into this kind of like a convenience store thing. You get a beer, you can get chips, scan your card, scan your phone, and go back to your seats. They could've just done that and I've been like, okay, cool. Good job. I have to wait in line.

But no they did that and all the millennials are happy and I guess that's what matters. 

[00:25:26] Mark Corbett: Here's one for you. In the, since you brought up concessions we're looking at charter games supposedly. Do those concession people, do they have less hours to work so that since they're shorter games and they're gonna be saving some money there?

I haven't organization, oh, please 

[00:25:42] Brent Cardy: do I have answer. So the Corona rooftop patio has music before the game, so they have an extra hour and a. Because the gates open an hour and a half early, so they have an hour and a half to serve, a few more drinks, play vibe, music, and then the game's [00:26:00] on. What they're trying to figure out is with the faster pace of the games, do they extend last call beyond seven, the seventh inning?

And I'm like I always thought that was a major league baseball. So there, there would have to be a lot of clearance there. So I don't know. And this is the other part we talked about on the podcast as well, is do you go through the headache of traveling through downtown Toronto, paying for parking, finding someplace to eat for a two and a half hour ballgame?

Yeah. Yeah. That's the question. If you, and if you find that. Then right on. Have at it. And if you don't, and if you find that you can park your behind in front of the tv, save yourself the drive, save yourself the traffic and the headache, you can hang out with your friends. Would you do that? 

[00:26:58] Mark Corbett: I don't know.[00:27:00] 

 It'd be interesting if there's some advertising executives somewhere sitting down. I thought one of the first things I thought they're not actually going to lose advertising time because you're still gonna have the time between s you're gonna have mound visits anytime there's making changes like that.

So the only thing is you're putting it in a shorter period of time, so you're gonna get the same amount of commercials within a shorter period of time. So they're not losing any money there at all. No. And 

[00:27:25] Brent Cardy: you can charge a premium for the audit. If your team's good and if you're getting the eyeballs on the product, you can charge a premium from.

Oh, yeah. 

[00:27:32] Mark Corbett: I don't know, I just find it amusing the whole thing. I'm gonna see how it all plays out. And like you mentioned as far as extending the IRS of Wind, people can buy booze in the park I think back to a time, Back almost in college days. And so that's been some time ago.

When bar 

[00:27:52] Brent Cardy: you mean was that last week? What are you 

[00:27:53] Mark Corbett: talking about? Yeah, it feels like last week it feels cuz what I'm about to tell you, this is what I felt after some of those nights, [00:28:00] bars and Louisville used to stay open to two to four in the morning. And. A lot of us would sometimes enjoy the whole evening there.

 But what you did discover is that those hours in the morning is there was always police cars nearby to make sure everybody got home safely. Yeah. Or did not make it home and went straight to the to the jail with that. And which I'm wondering if the cops will be putting more people out in front of the stadiums now that they can drink longer to the game.

They don't have a chance to sober up and have a chance to drink more before they leave the stadium. I've 

[00:28:34] Brent Cardy: been to the Trop once and. I vacated it early cuz the jails are getting their butts kicked. So there's a decent police presence there, but in Toronto, there's a solid police presence on a normal night and a normal afternoon.

 And essentially they're there A, making sure nothing bad happens and B, their directed traffic. I think they have increased [00:29:00] security I think by 150. If they do that, I imagine there's gonna be, need to be a bigger investment for sure. But I don't know. They gotta pay for the rental somehow.

Yeah. It can't just be on our cable bills and internet bills and I don't know. But it's a good point. You may, you bring up about, Law enforcement to make sure people don't do stupid stuff. Yeah. I'm talking about changing the whole theater around there. One piece of the theater is personnel.

[00:29:32] Mark Corbett: And by that I'm talking about the new bench coach that you guys have. Donald knowingly. Yeah. Yeah. Jan's legend. Dude. Come on. I was like, whoa disappear from the Marlins. What's gonna happen your career? Maybe go back to Yankees in the front office or something. But 

[00:29:50] Brent Cardy: that's what I was thinking.

I was thinking he was gonna pull a Ferrell, he was gonna come to Tri for a year or two, and then when Boonie gets canned, mad Lee is the new manager. [00:30:00] That makes sense to me, doesn't it? I 

[00:30:02] Mark Corbett: see that as a reality. As it's, I think everybody questions how long Boey is gonna be there, but he could be doing great or doing poorly, and everybody's still do that.

 If you're a New York fan, you're always gonna be discontent with this. 

[00:30:13] Brent Cardy: I'm surprised Boonie got into the stadium. How many people wanted him fired last year? Oh Lord. Poor guy. A feel for him. But yeah, I know Mattie was a great asset for sure. And the hitters are gonna learn a ton from him.

Yay. Steve Vidi Guerrero putting his work in at first base, learn a ton. So saw a pickup. I honestly thought, and I talked about this with Lou on the podcast, that matting Lee was going to the Yankees. Yeah. I thought Buny was gonna be gone because of the performance and it would be a natural fit, but apparently not.

And we'll have to see how it goes. But I know Mattingly De Debrowski and Dave Stewart are on the committee for that Nashville expansion project. [00:31:00] So what if that comes fruitation within the next 12, 12, 18 months? I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's definitely something to watch for sure.

[00:31:09] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I'll keep eye on that. I thought both he and Jeter would leaving Miami would be the deal and we'll see what happens with that. I know, looking at who was at the Padres, they had Jay Tingler as their manager. Yeah. And now he is. Where's he at? He's a bench coach, I want to say with the twin.

The twins. Yeah. So it's interesting to see where all these people land. I don't think we'll ever see Joe Maddon being a bench coach for anybody, but no, but I still think he's getting a nice paycheck from the angel must be, oh my goodness. Pardon me, I wanted to come back to what you were mentioning a moment ago, the balanced schedule. You were talking with a friend, a good friend of both ours, Lou Schiff down in [00:32:00] Miami. 

Marlins & Mets, they have played several games in the first weeks of the season. They're both in the NL East, and I don't think the Marlins play the Mets again until September. A team in your own division, you play in the first month and then you don't see 'em again until September. That's. That doesn't make sense. No. There, there's a lot of things about this balanced schedule that seemed a little unbalanced, and I know it's new, like a lot of things, but I wanna see where it makes sense and for me it doesn't.

In situations like that, obviously with the balanced schedule, with playing every team every year. You're not gonna be playing your division rivals all that much. But they played one another like several games in the beginning and again, the last I remember looking, it wasn't until September that they're gonna face one another again.

So that's kinda odd. [00:33:00] 

[00:33:00] Brent Cardy: Yeah. I'd say yeah, so the Mets of Marlins nine times in September. 

[00:33:12] Mark Corbett: That's insane. That's insane. The Marlins will have an opportunity then to play a spoiler role that, Ooh, 

wouldn't that be something? Man, I'll tell you what, I'm always pulling for the Marlins. It's NL East to me.

It's neat to see them and try to come up. I keep saying Lou, you got Sandy, Alcantara, who else you got? He's got obviously got more than that. 

[00:33:33] Brent Cardy: you've got That's right. Sura and Garcia and John Berti and. Cruz. Yeah they got some guys down there. They got some guys. 

[00:33:44] Mark Corbett: It seems like they gotta put it together.

That's the part you can have all the talents you want if you can't pull all 'em all row in the same direction at the same time. Then there's challenges and I think that's what they're experiencing right now. Yeah, fine. So let's take [00:34:00] a look at that. Al East brother. Blue Jays. There they are.

10 to six. Sharing the spot with the Yankees at the moment. And talking about beneath that, of course, the Orioles and Red Sox. Eight and seven and eight, and I had great hopes for the Orioles last year. I thought there were some things that were really starting to. And this year I still do, to be honest with you, I, I'll look at was it Cedric Mullins and Mountcastle and Rutschman & some other ones.

And I'm thinking these guys they can make a difference. 

[00:34:34] Brent Cardy: Yeah, no they really could. And Rutschman has Gone out to a fantastic start this year, and then you factor Mountcastle in there and Ureas and Mateo and Hays and all those guys. No. And then you got Big Bautista in the bullpen there.

 They traded Lopez. Yeah. And they got better like this. Think about that for a minute. They're gonna be a [00:35:00] competitive team. Strange. And you knew when Mike Elias came in, you knew they're gonna be headed in the right direction. And it was just a matter of time before the Orioles started to get themselves back into the conversation.

And we remember the teams with Adam Jones and Chris Davis and Zach Breton. This team is gonna be good and they're, I think Michael Elias and Brandon Hyde did it, have done it right. They're gonna be a good team for years to come. If not this year, they take the step, I say 2024. They take the step.

[00:35:34] Mark Corbett: It will be interesting to see if we're looking at the other team at the very bottom of the AL East, the Red Sox with a eight and eight record. They're the only one with a 500 record. All everybody else is above that at the moment. But let's face it again, we're only talking about 16. What games thus far? So 10% of the entire season.

Yeah. Not gonna be really able to say much about that, but the still the Red Sox, I think a lot of people years [00:36:00] ago when they brought it into new GM actually from Tampa and they came in and. First thing to did was, oh, by the way, your job is to cut Mookie Betts, and it's whoa.

What? And then I'm seeing him cut Xander Bogaerts. I'm like whoa. What? These don't cripple the team, but my gosh, man. I don't know what the Red Sox are gonna look like. You got Raphael Devers, he's doing his thing out there, and there's some good pitching and other things going as well, but I don't know, I don't really see them getting outta the basement.

[00:36:33] Brent Cardy: I don't either. I thought with Chris Sale back, they'd be better with Janssen coming over. But right now they're struggling. Yoshida's been hurt. He use their new Japanese signing. They signed to a five year 90 million deal. Is Tristan Kassis ready to take the next step at first base?

Nobody knows. Trevor's Story's been. He was the guy that can [00:37:00] play short, so Bogaert's, going to San Diego. And then obviously you mentioned devs who's had, who has already been extended for sure. So obviously he's gonna be there. But other than that with Verdugo. Yoshida. Kiki Hernandez is a good player, but he is not an impactful one.

 Adam Duvall is a guy that could play well in the Al East, but he's injured now, so Boston's in trouble. I think they're gonna hang around the 500 mark. I don't think they're going to go on a sell it around. I just don't think they have the pitching. They signed Kluber. So maybe, but Kluber is getting over the hill.

[00:37:45] Mark Corbett:  Yeah. There's a reason the Ray didn't keep him another year. Yeah, no, there exactly. James Paxton, can he come back and contribute? I don't know. Tom will tell him not. But yeah, [00:38:00] no, the Red Sox are in some trouble. They're gonna have to figure out their paging and. They could get hot, but I highly doubt it.

[00:38:08] Brent Cardy: I don't expect much from them, which is weird because it was 2013. They were ca they came off that bad year. I think it was under Bobby Valentine, so that's when Farrell came over from Toronto. We talked about that earlier. And everybody underestimated Boston, but Boston did make some good baseball moves.

Justin Turner is a good baseball move. Kenley Jansen's a good baseball move and the Red Sox won World Series. So I'm not saying the Red Sox are gonna the win the World Series, but we can't count them out just yet. No. If they're like this in July, then let's talk. 

[00:38:45] Mark Corbett: Yeah. And let's face we all know entries, everything else by the time, what your team looks like after the All-Star break can be completely different than what it looks like right now.

Anybody's team that is and it's, you don't know. 

Hey, I got one [00:39:00] for you. 

What do the Red Sox, Taylor Swift and the Tampa Bay Rays have in common? 

[00:39:12] Brent Cardy: Ooh. . . . .They're all trouble when they walk in. 

[00:39:15] Mark Corbett: I like that brother. Yeah. Maybe be Taylor Swift. She was actually playing here in Tampa the last three days, starting on the 13th.

Three days. Wow. Three days, yeah. Yeah. They love her and. And they were doing it in at the Buc’s Raymond Jaymes Stadium there too. So Big outdoor deal for three nights. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. 

So anyway, she's there on April 13th. April 13th was also the same day that the Rays played the Boston Red Sox at the Trop when they had their 13th win.

The first 13 games straight. 
 Okay, so April 13th, the day Taylor Swift's favorite number is 13. 

Okay here's one more. Now, the Red [00:40:00] Sox, the last 13 times they played at the Trop, they have lost to the Rays. 
 The last time that they won at the Trop, was with Corey Kluber? Wow. And he was the one, he was the one on the mound for the Red Sox the other day on that 13th game of the Rays, this season.

 Oh, there's a little strange weirdness out there with the number 13, and I always like seeing, let's incorporate T Swift into MLB. That's awesome. 

[00:40:36] Brent Cardy: Good for her three days there at Raymond Jaymes Stadium, that's a lot of money.

[00:40:40] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I hope so. And I know people who have spent a couple nickels going to that. There was rumors that parking was gonna  cost $90 at the stadium.

I don't know if it got to be that I know other people are parking three blocks away or more, and paying 40 bucks for parking in somebody's lawn. [00:41:00] It's $500 Canadian. Oh, there you go. There you go. I'm my friend. Oh. So what's the thing you are looking forward to the most in 2023 for your Jays?

[00:41:15] Brent Cardy: The stretch run. Let's see what happens. Yeah. After July. Let's see what happens whenever you comes back. Positionally, I don't think this team needs to do anything. this team is legit set. But I am curious to see what they do with the bullpen if they go out and get a solid piece.

Curious to see what they're gonna do with where you, when he comes back. But other than that let's see what happens down the stretch. Will we see Brandon Belk from last the year? They're paying him 9 million, so I guess you'd better but yeah, no, I'm curious to see how everybody health wise holds up and pitchers with the [00:42:00] pitch clock are I'm curious to see how healthy pitchers stay.

I haven't seen a lot of injuries pitching wise yet. We've had a couple guys take shots off the mo. You stopped Berrios, saw Romano yesterday but I'm curious to see how that happens. Quicker game, quicker pace.
 Sorry to answer your question, is definitely gonna be a stretch drive for the Jays and if Springer stays healthy, if Kiermaier stays healthy, it should be.

[00:42:39] Mark Corbett: I’m excited for the Blue Jays this year. It's every year you don't know with these teams. The AL East is always a strong division. And I think for the last few years you can certainly say that of the Blue Jays, you can say the Yankees and the Rays. Red Sox have struggled, but they, you never know.

And Orioles, like I said, I think keep showing promise. 

[00:43:03] Brent Cardy: Yeah, I Can't wait. Should be good. 

[00:43:05] Mark Corbett: Hey, let's remind everybody where you are again, we're speaking with Brent Cardy.  Brent. Where can they find your show? 

[00:43:11] Brent Cardy: Yeah, you can find the Cardy Show wherever you stream, your podcast, a lot of Blue Jays talk.

 If you like hockey, you can listen to the old time hockey series. A few months back I thought Corby and I were gonna talk about the Lightning buddy. I mean that, that'll be next time. Yeah, we'll save that one. Yeah, we'll save that one. The Lightning in seven kids. 
 But hey, listen you can find us anywhere you Stream podcast, just like the BaseballBiz On Deck. 

And I encourage you to subscribe like Corby has and listen to the greatness that comes on your podcast platforms, please. 

[00:43:43] Mark Corbett: All righty, my friend. It's always a pleasure having here, Brent. Thank you buddy and I wish you continued success with the Cardy Show and continued success with your Blue Jays, my friend.

[00:43:52] Brent Cardy: Likewise, Mr. Corbett. Thank you very much 

[00:43:54] Mark Corbett: appreciate it. Take care. Thank.

You've been [00:44:00] listening to BaseballBiz On Deck. We had a special guest today, Mr. Brent Cardy from the Cardy Show. Hope you've enjoyed that and as Rick was saying earlier, go ahead and make sure you check him out. Check us out at baseballbizondeck.com. On Twitter You can find me, @TheBaseballBiz. 

I look forward to hearing more from you guys and hope to be talking with you again real soon.

Special thanks to XTaKeRuX. For the music Rocking Forward.