Where will Rays play, KK goes to the World Series & Check Swing Challenges

260 BaseballBiz On Deck RaysUp & World Series 

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: 

Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck, I'm Mark Corbett. With me, of course, is Mr. Mat Germain. How you doing today, Mat? 

[00:00:17] Mat Germain: I'm doing excellent. How about you, Mark? 

[00:00:19] Mark Corbett: Brother, it just can't get any better, can it? I hope so. It's kind of weird.  , folks, you all know, we talked before about being down here in Tampa.

[00:00:28] Mark Corbett: Things are getting better for a lot of folks, but there's still a lot of challenges for people. And. The, the Rays as well as everybody else. I want to commend the Rays. They've, I know they had a food drive or people coming through rather, I should say, uh, up to the trop. Some of the players in the front office, people were putting together packages for people who would drive up.

[00:00:47] Mark Corbett: And so there's, there's a lot of good works being done here. There's still several crews out there for utilities and people cutting trees. That's seeing less of it now, but you're starting to see more and more of the, of that being set up on the side roads. Uh, and Mat, I got to tell you, driving down this, even just a half hour ago down, uh, 92 and seeing all these big flames out there, people burning all this trash and seeing flames going up as high as 12 feet.

[00:01:16] Mark Corbett: It was like, that looks dangerous,  , but it's, sign of the times. 

[00:01:24] Mat Germain: Yeah, the burn pits are a little,  , scary because I know for a fact that I don't know if   that the, the, the, uh, the shows that Jon Stewart had on the service people that actually had burn pits, uh, that they were operating in and ended up having,  , serious health issues, cancers and all kinds of things, uh, at a very young age and very quickly after they, they did those burn pits.

[00:01:49] Mat Germain: So burning things is not good, yeah. especially when you're talking about electronics and different chemicals and not recommended don't burn stuff because it's just going to lead to really bad long term health issues and I think another example you can use is the 09/11 sites

[00:02:07] Mark Corbett: yeah 

[00:02:07] Mat Germain: There's a reason you don't want to inhale that stuff and you don't want your neighbors inhaling it or your neighbors’ neighbors. I would say don't burn your stuff just Be patient, get rid of it another way and, and be safe.

[00:02:21] Mark Corbett: Well, be safe. That's kind of the key. I'm glad you said that too, Mat, because that's something we ought to do. But things are getting better here. Um, you're seeing it day in and day out. Like I said, there's going, there's still people who are gonna be in need simply 'cause some of their homes have been either destroyed or filled with water, and now they're filled with mode.

[00:02:43] Mark Corbett: So now starting out with that happy thought, uh, , we may we'll bring it back to, uh, to baseball and looking at the Rays, like I said, they're doing some good things, pardon me. And, and some of that I was telling you about a moment ago as far as having. Different things for people to come and pick up that is happening out there in front of the Tropicana Stadium or be in the back of it.

[00:03:05] Mark Corbett: So,  , there's the water levels have lowered there. Um, I can tell you how Langfield, which is also in St Pete, right up there on the bay. It must have had sustained some damage and flooding because the rowdies, the local soccer team, our football club, whatever you wish to call them, they are playing their last games.

[00:03:29] Mark Corbett: Down in Bradenton and, uh, yeah, there's an academy down there. And I thought, wow, that's, that's interesting. But  , you do what you got to do during this. 

[00:03:40] Mat Germain: That's right. you don't really have a choice basically. No, 

[00:03:46] Mark Corbett: no, but  , you've been raising some good questions on Twitter. And one of those, of course, is looking at.

[00:03:52] Mark Corbett: What is this 2025 going to look like for the Rays,  , when and where can they play and,  , you posit some really good thoughts to, I know last week you brought up as far as Montreal, uh, I'm sorry, Tampa, but we're, we're building a roof here right now with the big O, right? 

[00:04:12] Mat Germain: Exactly. Like Montreal's positioning themselves for an expansion site or for for the move of another franchise at some point, for example, the White Sox, if they do get sold and the Montreal group were to buy them, maybe they can move them into Montreal as a viable option.

[00:04:29] Mat Germain:, I think that they would. Prefer to have a clean slate with an expansion team. And what they basically done in Quebec is the government covered the cost of replacing the roof. So now if you're Steven Bronfman considering because the area around the Olympic stadium is getting a huge revamp and kind of a,  , there's so many people moving to Canada right now that the population is exploding.

[00:04:54] Mat Germain: And so there's a lot of development. Potential in that area, sort of like what there is in Saint Pete. So I think there's a, there's a revival there around the stadium area to say, okay, there's people injecting money in here. Governments are injecting a lot of money in there. So, and they have a subway station and they're also expanding the subway line by 6.

[00:05:15] Mat Germain: 4Billion dollars. So. Getting more people to the stadium has suddenly become a lot easier and getting them out of the stadium got a lot easier. So put all that together, what it means is basically, uh, if, if, if the group was to revamp the inside of the stadium, the same way the Blue Jays have done with their stadium, then all of a sudden that becomes a tolerable cost.

[00:05:38] Mat Germain: Instead of having to pay,  , for the build of a one or 1.2 billion stadium, uh, they can cut that in half and then suddenly they can afford to bid for a franchise for a little bit more money. 

[00:05:51] Mark Corbett: Well, that sounds like a solid plan for the future with them. And I would like to see Montreal get a team up there, man.

[00:05:57] Mark Corbett: At the beginning of every Blue Jays televised game,  , the one thing they show is all the beauty of all of Canada. And they say Canada's baseball team and they are,  , The national team. And I said, yeah, but  , you got so much, so many good folks up here and so much talent.

[00:06:16] Mark Corbett: And  , it's, I think there's interest enough to bear. I don't think everybody just tied into hockey and soccer. I think there's, there's more to that. And we'll, we'll see what comes. Very, 

[00:06:28] Mat Germain: very deep baseball history. I think it's underrated how deep the baseball history goes in Montreal, everything from Jackie Robinson, all the way up to,  , uh, some, some like probably the most.

[00:06:41] Mat Germain: Hall of Famers produced per season played by any franchise in Major League Baseball are the Montreal Expos. When you look at the Hall of Famers that they've produced. So Larry Walker, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter, Larry, uh, did I say Larry Walker? Vladdy Guerrero, uh, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson.

[00:07:02] Mat Germain: All Hall of Famers, all from Montreal. So, when you look at their track record in terms of developing Hall of Famers, it's second to none. How many Hall of Famers are from the Rays?  , it's been in existence just as long as the Expos were. 

[00:07:21] Mark Corbett: Yeah. Well, I mean in Tampa way, we certainly have a few who's going to, but not actually from the Rays themselves.

[00:07:28] Mark Corbett: I guess you could say, Wade Boggs,  , he was he, um, Hall of Famer, but, uh, not actually necessarily anything he did in Tampa. Right. 

[00:07:40] Mat Germain: I think Evan Longoria might be the first one that has a viable case and we'll see how that goes. I'm really curious to see if, if, uh, if the whole, uh, what's his name? The, the, the guy from the Phillies that just got in, uh, I can't believe that that's, well, Scott Rowland.

[00:08:01] Mat Germain: Yes, when Scott Rowland went in, I went, Oh, well, maybe, but even when you compare their cases together, Scott Rowland has a lot more of things of bling basically to, to point to, and I think his career might have been a tiny bit lengthier, uh, since Evan seems to be done, but I think he still has a, he has a chance.

[00:08:23] Mat Germain: He has a chance. 

[00:08:25] Mark Corbett: Well, I'd like to see him in there. There's no doubt about it. I mean, to me, we've talked before he's one of the few people who could actually be considered a franchise player in the last decade with the Rays. I mean, Kiermaier as well. And there were, there were people before them, but more, most recently those two gentlemen, right?

[00:08:44] Mat Germain: If defense got its due, like the way it should, in my opinion, cause I'm a, I'm a strong believer. Andrew Jones is a Hall of Famer. Um, like I don't even understand how he's been left. Out of the hall of fame so far, like 10 years in a row, gold glove, that he defined the way you play center field for a whole generation.

[00:09:03] Mat Germain: I don't understand all those pitchers in Atlanta were that great because of Andrew Jones and Chipper Jones, of course. But, um,  , it's it's one of those sad truths that we don't weigh defense nearly enough. Well, when we're considering hall of famers, 

[00:09:20] Mark Corbett: that's true. It's absolutely true. I mean, because we look at what happens from the mound sometimes.

[00:09:26] Mark Corbett: And we look at what happens as far as,  , at the bat,  , but that's, it does seem to be heavy, but one of the things we'll talk about too, though, today, we'll talk about who the, all the MVPs that we're seeing in the world series. 

But before they, we go there, I wanted to, to look back, we were talking about the Arizona fall league and today they, they broke history today, didn't they, with the, uh, with the checking the first, what was it?

[00:09:57] Mark Corbett: The first time that automatic check swing. 

[00:10:01] Mat Germain: Oh, gotcha. Okay. I didn't know where you were going towards. I was like, Oh, 

[00:10:06] Mark Corbett: yeah, yeah. Today was the first day that they had an automatic check swing and it was, uh, they actually put it up on the, on the board up there and everything else to boot. The guy was, uh, that was, he was three and one and he almost swung and the, they looked down to the first base.

[00:10:25] Mark Corbett: Um, and he says, yeah, yeah, he swung, but, uh, lo and behold, he did not per the system and being 3 and 1, he took, he took his base right there, man. And there was, uh, another one in the same game as well. So that's a new thing starting out there in the Arizona fall league. I don't know if 

[00:10:43] Mat Germain: I like the graphic that they used for it and that they had it right away like boom right there.

[00:10:48] Mat Germain: This is what it looked like. This is what it is. There's no argument from anyone. Nobody comes on the bench,  , and says, Hey,  , that's because it's again. Like I've said before, and I've done this, like talking to JJ Cooper and all the guys from baseball America. And I have conversations with them a lot on, on X and, and, and I'm like, you can't ask.

[00:11:09] Mat Germain: Old men with degrading eyesight to call balls and strike as accurately as they probably could with a computer. It's just not physically feasible and it's not fair to be honest. And it's the same thing with the Czech swing. It happens so fast.   about how fast those guys swing the bat. Pull them back.

[00:11:28] Mat Germain: Like, come on. That's like a blur. That's like asking somebody to clock the flash. You're not going to be able to. It's just, it's ridiculous. So yeah, use the gear, use the information, use the cameras, uh, do it. Like the fans will love it. They'll look, they'll say, yeah, that's accurate. Okay. End of story. 

[00:11:48] Mark Corbett: That's it, Ben.

[00:11:49] Mark Corbett: That's it, Mat. I tell you, it's, it's been something to watch though, because it's been coming. There's so many things where I'll question whether we automate this and we automate that, but all in all, I felt pretty good about it. And to me, this is one of the Pieces. I think that's really easy for an umpire to be wrong on.

[00:12:09] Mark Corbett: I mean, there's a lot of things that are questionable, but to me, more times than not between that and the bulk, I don't know if I ever have anything automated for a balk, but get rid of the rule. 

[00:12:22] Mat Germain: Honestly, I say increase the trickery. You want to step on, step off, do a two step, and then throw the ball? By all means, do it.

[00:12:30] Mat Germain: Get rid of the rule. The rule is the problem, to be honest, with the balk. Like, I'm fine. You get, you made the bases bigger. You shortened the distance by half a foot. Well, the pitcher gets his own little thing where he gets to dangle and, and,  , throw you off your game. That's the, that's the gift he gets for, for you shortening the, uh, the distance.

[00:12:53] Mark Corbett: I'm with you, man, because I look at that and I'm like, I think we lost a little bit of the color of what seemed like when the, the balk has been enforced, I mean, the enforcement of it, uh, things a little bit happening often, uh, I've seen games and you would have to, you and I both were, there's been a balk off and that just doesn't seem right, man.

[00:13:12] Mat Germain: It's just, there's something not right about the rule at all. I don't know where it started and why it started, but I just find now, if you look at the game today, first of all, it doesn't happen very often. And when it does, it's sort of like one of those things that just angers everybody, . There's nobody that's happy about it.

[00:13:31] Mat Germain: Even the team who benefits from the balk are going, eh, that didn't even seem like a balk. . What's the rule, really? And then they start digging into the rule again, and they don't even know, like it's so obs obscure. Uh, 

[00:13:45] Mark Corbett: get rid. Yeah. It gives Lindsay a close call sports. Something to talk about, but,  , um, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.

[00:13:55] Mark Corbett:  , we were talking to about some of the X rays before we actually got down to the last two teams in the world series and it was a D Rays Bay, I think put something up, uh, earlier today or yesterday, and they were talking about the different guys in there, see if I can remember them all. I know.

[00:14:12] Mark Corbett: Let's see. We got Brent Honeywell. Uh, obviously we had Keir Meyer and. Geez, who's, uh, Banda, Anthony Banda, and let's see, who was, who's some of the other ones you, you conjure, I can't conjure them at the moment, but anyway, I'll see, I'll dig it up a little bit later, but one, the, on the DeRay's Bay article, the one thing that they did talk about was that, uh, they said, well, there's none with the Yankees, and I thought, hmm, I don't know, because they were, they were kind of doing it abroad, Broad strokes because they were also talking about people in the front office.

[00:14:50] Mark Corbett: And I thought, well, that's not necessarily so because I know a guy just sent a minor league contract with them this past week. It's a 

[00:14:58] Mat Germain: bit, was that with them or was that with the Red Sox? I can't remember the, not minor league contract. I'm thinking about the coach. There's a, not the coach, the front office guy.

[00:15:12] Mat Germain: He's going to be the assistant GM with the Red Sox. 

[00:15:14] Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yeah. You're right there. But no, this one, Brett Phillips. 

[00:15:19] Mat Germain: Oh, right. He's going to pitch. Yeah. I completely forgot about that. Yeah. I don't think he's alone too. There's another x rays in their system that, that at some point that they, they picked up either on the rule five or waivers at some point.

[00:15:36] Mat Germain: Uh, I could probably look it up right now and find it for you while we're talking, but yeah, the, the x rays are, are fun. And then to me, what I love most about the Dodgers version of them is how.  , as a Rays fan, you saw what Brent Honeywell went through, all the surgeries, all the ups and downs, the struggles to get back into the game, and, and he just persevered to the point where he was picked up by the best freaking franchise in Jersey baseball, and then he's, he's on the roster for the World Series, that's just an incredible, incredible feat.

[00:16:15] Mat Germain: For a guy that had every obstacle put in front of him and and a lot of people had given up on him. So, and when you look at Kevin Kiermaier, it's the same damn story. 

[00:16:25] Mark Corbett: You 

[00:16:25] Mat Germain: know, he was, he was drafted in the third and around that no longer exists. It's like way beyond what exists today in the thirties. We don't even have past 20 rounds of drafts right now and he.

[00:16:37] Mat Germain: Persevered, went to the Australian Baseball League, improved himself, did everything he absolutely could in order to get, uh,  , the playing time that he got, had a wicked career. Everybody quits on him and he's with the Blue Jays and they're like, ah,   what? We don't need you anymore. Boom. He's on the Dodgers.

[00:16:56] Mat Germain: Anthony Banda. How many times did he get waved and moved around? How many teams did he go to before he ended up with the Dodgers? Like, it's just incredible when you're talking about. Baseball, right? And the journey that a lot of these guys take and the faith that they have to have in themselves and the perseverance and grit and tenacity to keep at it, to keep doing the work, to keep believing in themselves.

[00:17:20] Mat Germain: They're the story. That trio is just. It's awesome to see it really is. 

[00:17:27] Mark Corbett: Yeah, man. I look at the Matand I say, I see KK. There's going to be books written about him, I think movies and, uh, Oh my gosh.  , he, he's done so much and it's so much excitement out there at centerfield, uh, but I, I really thought it was all over for him.

[00:17:47] Mark Corbett: I would never, ever, ever thought that he would be with the Dodgers and in the world series. And I'm thinking, man, that alone, man, is a reason for me to say, I'm ready. I'm ready to see the Dodgers win. Okay. I'd love to see KK with the ring and at the last year of his career that he's walking out with a ring to me, that'd be fantastic.

[00:18:09] Mat Germain: I agree. Like, I, I'm, I think all Rays fans, I think, would clap for him. Even the ones that weren't really 100%,  , behind him all the time, um,  , they were frustrated by his bat sometimes, or they wish that he could do a little bit more hitting, um, they, they still respect him and, and, and they know that he put everything that he had into the game.

[00:18:29] Mat Germain: He showed up every day that he could and was healthy to show up. So, uh, I think, yeah. All of Tampa would, would clap very hard for him to get that ring, no doubt. And what's the, what's the title of his movie going to be? Is it Blue Eyes? And then, then who plays Mr. Blue Eyes? Who are we hiring to play that part?

[00:18:52] Mark Corbett: Uh, who would we get? 

[00:18:53] Mat Germain: My gosh, man, 

[00:18:54] Mark Corbett:  , I don't know enough young actors these days because um, geez,  , that's a good one, brother. Yeah. I would 

[00:19:04] Mat Germain: have to just have somebody with really,  , really deep eyes. I don't know. It would be an interesting one. I mean, you could, you could wear lenses no Mater what, no, who you choose, right.

[00:19:15] Mat Germain: In terms of, uh, I have some ideas in terms of who it could be, uh, but I don't,   what they sometimes it's fun to dream on more baseball movies because they usually end up to be,  , pretty decent overall and there's always room for one more. Um, but yeah, I, I think Jake, uh, Jake Gyllenhaal would be the one guy that I could see playing Kevin Kiermaier.

[00:19:42] Mat Germain: If you look at a picture of, of him, both of those guys together, uh, I think. He could pull it off. 

[00:19:50] Mark Corbett: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I I don't think it would beat Mat Damon though, but, uh, , he's getting a little bit older too. . That's true, man. See, I told you, I up thinking these, these old guys,  , I got Mathew McConaughey running my, in my head.

[00:20:03] Mark Corbett: I said, no, no, no, no. But, uh, yeah, that's, see, yeah. I like, I like, uh, how'd you say his name? But I can never say it properly. Nick Gil. You ain't killing him. Yeah, I like him,  , every time since I first saw him playing Mysterio in Spider Man, right? 

[00:20:21] Mat Germain: He's got that stare that intense stare to where and and he just got really, uh, he did a movie, uh, Roadhouse.

[00:20:28] Mat Germain: So basically all the one from Patrick Swayze. So,  , he can get in shape to run center field. Right. And then you're like, all right, we want you to dive in this direction. Okay. 

[00:20:41] Mark Corbett: Jeez. I love it, brother. Love it. Yeah. So let's see here. I want to get back to one. One thing I want to talk about is what it takes to get to this world series for me.

[00:20:57] Mark Corbett: And I'm looking at a commitment. I don't know if you saw who was, who was Nestor Cortez, man,  , he's been out with an injury. And he says, I'm ready. Bring me back in. Bring me back in. 

[00:21:10] Mat Germain: Yeah, where you said,  , if I get a ring and I have one year out of baseball afterwards, that's fine. Right. 

[00:21:17] Mark Corbett: Yeah.

[00:21:18] Mark Corbett:  , I mean, this is a guy who's still. He can't be a free agent yet, he's still under a contract with that. And that goes with a thing you and I have talked about before, these young arms , by the time they hit free agency, they're, they're we're, they're lucky to still be able to throw. Well, I mean, and, but anyway, yeah, that just shows his commitment to that.

[00:21:41] Mark Corbett: And I was thinking about that ring because who gets rings, and I know the players and the coaches do. But they say really above and beyond that is decided by the winning team,  , if they want to give some to the ball boys or the front office, they can do 

[00:22:00] Mat Germain: that. And you get a, they get a percentage as well.

[00:22:03] Mat Germain: So they'll vote on the percentage of how they split the bonus up, uh,  , for the, once it's decided by the league, they'll say, okay, we're giving you guys this much in bonus. And then they'll say, okay, well, how much percentage should all the, these guys get these guys, these guys, these guys, and it goes all the way down.

[00:22:20] Mark Corbett: Yeah, it's pretty crazy,  , when you think about, I'm glad that they do actually give those folks a chance to participate with it because my gosh, they've, they've been so much a part. Of that season for the team and see, man, where is it here?

[00:22:42] Mat Germain: You're talking about x rays that would get rings. Okay. So if the Dodgers were to win the World Series, these are the x rays that would get rings. Tyler Glass now, Anthony Banda, Ryan Yarbrough, Brent Honeywell. Um, you would have, uh, J. P. Feireisen. Wow. You would have, uh, who's the other guy? Uh, we just spoke about him.

[00:23:10] Mat Germain: Brent Honeywell, obviously. 

[00:23:12] Mark Corbett: Yeah, Banda. 

[00:23:13] Mat Germain: Look at batting stats. I don't remember if, if the Dodgers have many, um, x rays on their roster in terms of hitters. Uh, Kevin Kiermaier, obviously. We talked about him. Ahmed Rosario. 

[00:23:27] Mark Corbett: Oh, wow. 

[00:23:29] Mat Germain: And, but although, I will say he's only 12 plate appearances, so I'm not sure what he would get.

[00:23:35] Mat Germain: But that's the line,  , I don't know what minimum they give the guys when it comes to that. Like 12 plate appearances is like, eh, maybe you don't get a ring, but you get a bit of money and that's it. Um, I don't know. I don't know how that works exactly, but yeah. Well, I've, 

[00:23:53] Mark Corbett: I've seen where, go ahead, I'm sorry.

[00:23:55] Mat Germain: Oh, it's just interesting when you look back at the Rays roster from nine, uh, 2021, I think all of those pictures were on the Rays that I mentioned. 

[00:24:06] Mark Corbett: That's amazing when you think about it too, and it's yourself talking about their participation. I saw one story where they were talking about. Different levels of rings.

[00:24:18] Mark Corbett: So there's the rings that the team gets. And some of them are saying they got a level of B level and a C level ring. And they can do up to like 500 or 700 rings. I mean, that's what MLB will let them do, if I remember correctly, which just seems like nuts to me, but Hey, Oh, let's see what else we have here.

[00:24:41] Mark Corbett: Oh, just, just thinking about going to this games. Okay, my, my brother went up there and he got to see, uh, the Mets playing the Dodgers last week and sitting up there in the nosebleed section, but he was able to go watch that game. I was very envious. And there they are. And somebody asked him, are you all Mets fans?

[00:25:05] Mark Corbett: He said, today we are. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not going to not be. And there was one. So a few rows in front of them, he had his Mookie Betts jersey on and he was certainly an anomaly amongst all the other folks there. I don't think my brother, any of them were wearing any gear and he, uh, he was there filming the entire time.

[00:25:29] Mark Corbett: And when Mookie struck out, the, all the fans are absent, Hey, Hey, did you, did you get that on there too? Yeah. Yeah. It's like, Oh, but it's, it's something when would you think though now world series ticket prices. I just did a glance earlier today at game three, the Yankees at Dodgers and the range on ticket master was from 1, 320 to 5, 093 per ticket.

[00:25:56] Mark Corbett: Wow. Wow. 

[00:25:58] Mat Germain: Here's what I'm going to say about that. So the Dodgers are in the world series for the second time since 2020, right? 

[00:26:05] Mark Corbett: Right. Yes. 

[00:26:06] Mat Germain: So, so how much money do you think they've spent since 2020? So after 2020, to get back to the world series? 

[00:26:16] Mark Corbett: Well, we all know it's a buttload because he got Otani there for one.

[00:26:19] Mark Corbett: I mean, 

[00:26:19] Mat Germain: I'm just, I'm not even looking forward. I'm not looking at what they're going to end up paying them in the end. I'm saying, what have they actually spent? between 2021 to 2024, like really paid out in contracts over those years. 

[00:26:34] Mark Corbett: Probably over a billion dollars. That's for sure. 1. 

[00:26:40] Mat Germain: 2 

[00:26:40] Mark Corbett: billion 

[00:26:42] Mat Germain: to get back to the world series.

[00:26:44] Mat Germain: Right. Wow. That would take the Rays at least 12 years. To pay. 

[00:26:51] Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

[00:26:52] Mat Germain: So the ticket prices are what they are because the team's getting in there need to pay those bills. Oh, yeah. In the end, it's ridiculous. 

[00:27:03] Mark Corbett: Well, think about what the Yankees got going right now. I mean, they've got Judge, and they're paying him finally,  , a decent wage now that he's a free agent.

[00:27:11] Mark Corbett: But, pardon me, but also think about who's going to be a free agent next year. And that's Mr. Juan Soto. Man, he's making a difference for them. They wouldn't be there without him right now. 

[00:27:22] Mat Germain: Who? 

[00:27:23] Mark Corbett: I've never heard of him. 

[00:27:24] Mat Germain: Yeah. They have some interesting calls to make too. Anthony Rizzo, I think, we all see the writing on the wall that he's probably not going to be back.

[00:27:37] Mat Germain: You mentioned Nestor Cortez, he's going to be a free agent after next year. They're projecting that he'll make 7. 5 million, assuming that his arm doesn't fall off during the World Series. Uh, but Rizzo, I think, is supposed to make I think it might be an option that he has next year and they're probably going to decline that and that's going to cost them six million.

[00:28:00] Mat Germain: They have Trent Grisham who's on this last year, next year. They have to make a call on Lou Trevino. Uh, I think there's, oh, maybe Clark Schmidt, uh, but they have some room to, to bring up young guys that they have. I think that they already have plans for, and so there's no doubt in my mind they'll make a strong offer for, for Juan Soto.

[00:28:21] Mat Germain: The question is just, is there anybody out there hungrier for Juan Soto than the Yankees? Like, how long have the, the, the giants been on the sidelines, not able to pull the trigger? They finally changed their GM. Is this the year that they actually dole out the biggest amount for Juan Soto?  , like that would make just too much sense to me because he is somebody you build your franchise around.

[00:28:47] Mat Germain: Now, how long does Juan Soto want to play second fiddle to Aaron Judge? It's always going to be Aaron Judge's team, regardless of how he perceives himself. It's always going to be.   all rise here comes the judge so I don't know. I think if if if the giants offer Enough more to compensate soto for the lack of market in comparison to what he would get in new york I think he would definitely follow the money and go to that's just one example of many that could happen  , you have a lot of crazy things coming up like What are the angels going to do?

[00:29:24] Mat Germain: What are the there's a whole bunch of money out there Able to be had despite all the the TV deals By desperate teams that really want that franchise player. So I don't think it's gonna be that easy. And also this is my thought, right? This is why I think Alonso to the Rays has legs because if you're the Mets what's stopping you from bringing Juan Soto in?

[00:29:48] Mat Germain:  , why would you spend 25 million a year on Alonzo if you can bring in Juan Soto?  , I don't, I don't, there's no comparison between the two. Like, yes, Alonzo is a great power hitter, but he's not Juan Soto. So if I'm going to spend 40, 50 million a year, then I might as well get that and plug in the rest afterwards.

[00:30:11] Mat Germain: And I'm taking him away from the Yankees, which is just, 

[00:30:15] Mark Corbett: yes,

[00:30:19] Mark Corbett: I'm mad. I can't even begin to imagine if the Yankees don't keep him. Can you imagine what the fandom would be like against that front office if they do not keep him next year? I think it 

[00:30:32] Mat Germain: would be even worse because. Some of the guys that they let go to get Soto are having a lot of success and that's,  , Michael King and those guys, they're, they're just looking really good.

[00:30:45] Mat Germain: But I think Yankees fans, now that they've gotten to the World Series would say, yeah, we got to the World Series,  , it was worth it. So,  , it's, it's all right. I think that actually increases the chances he goes elsewhere. Because they did get to the World Series with him. 

[00:31:02] Mark Corbett: Yeah,  , I was wondering when Judge was coming up.

[00:31:05] Mark Corbett: I mean, it seemed pretty certain he was going to stay with the Yankees, but the year he was having, man, you figure this last year, when he would be out of arbitration, just before he'd be a free agent, he just shined and shined and shined,  . And if you look at Judge right now, though, he's, he's experiencing a little bit of challenge.

[00:31:25] Mark Corbett: And, uh, post season here, let's see, pardon me, looking at a comparison, 2024 post season stats. Uh, if you look at his average batting average is 161 and they do a comparison with Otani, which is 286. At this point when they did it, uh, Judge had two home runs, Ohtani had three, Judge had six RBS, Ohtani had ten, and OPS, 704 on Judge, but 934 on Ohtani.

[00:31:57] Mat Germain: Whoa. Whoa, I think the, the thing with the Yankees remains the fact that the roster, the lineup as a whole is still suspect in certain areas, which,  , increases the, the opportunity for picture for pictures to pitch around,  , some, some of the guys and also small samples will get you. I mean, Aaron judge could go three for four tomorrow and still are sorry Friday and still end up looking great overall.

[00:32:25] Mat Germain: I will say that the team that was second,  . In the chase for Aaron judge and they thought they had him locked up or the Giants. 

[00:32:32] Mark Corbett: Yeah, 

[00:32:32] Mat Germain: and that's why I think with with Soto They're gonna say not this time 

[00:32:39] Mark Corbett: Man I hope you're right. I mean, it's it'll be really interesting to see I'm almost more interested than what I'm actually going to see as far as the World Series winnings, but I like, like you were earlier talking about earlier to so many of the rays that are still in the Dodgers system that I'd, I want to see the Dodgers win for that alone.

[00:32:59] Mark Corbett: And another thing from MLB I was looking at too today was the MVPs,  , let's see. Okay. Uh, Oh, Tony. Bets, Freeman, Judge, Stanton, I mean, bam, you got five MVPs from the past,  , that are there and it's just going to be an exciting series, I believe. I think both teams have got a good chance, uh, glancing at the athletic this morning.

[00:33:27] Mark Corbett: And I think you could almost evenly divide who is with the Dodgers and who is with the Yankees. Some of their, uh, some of their specialists trying to pick what's what. But, uh, A couple of them, I think probably three or four of the, of the NAD said coin toss,  , they picked a team, but they were saying coin toss and, and it'd be interesting to see how many games we go this world series.

[00:33:50] Mat Germain: I just, I have a hard time getting into this world series. I'll be really blunt and honest. I just, I see it as the world series that proves you can buy a world series appearance. And because of that, I have a lack, like Shania Twain,  , Shania Twain. 

[00:34:07] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I'm old enough. 

[00:34:09] Mat Germain: She, she has a song that says, uh, “that don't impress me much.”

[00:34:14] Mat Germain: Yeah. So if you spend 350 million, you make the world series that don't impress me much. You're supposed to. You spent freaking 350 million. You better get to the world series. Like that's I, I just, I can't get into it because of that. I do like some of the players. I do like Freddie Freeman as a, as a player.

[00:34:35] Mat Germain: And as a person, I think he's a good guy. Same thing with Shohei Otani, same thing with a lot of the other players. I respect a lot of the players, it's not on them. It's on the system that allows for this to happen, which I really don't agree with. So I'll give you another example. The New York Rangers make the Stanley Cup playoffs and they make it to the finals.

[00:34:56] Mat Germain: I respect that because I know they played within a system that keeps them within a range. Right of salaries that is compared to everybody else in the league, which makes it a, um,  , a fair system when it comes to competition and and I don't believe major league baseball is there anymore. I think we're now looking at a league that's going to keep pushing that as well because they're seeing the ratings benefit and they couldn't care less about anything else.

[00:35:27] Mat Germain: They don't care about you in Milwaukee, they don't care about you in Tampa, they don't care about you in anywhere else. If they can get the large markets in there all the time, they are ecstatic because that's how what gets them paid. And to me, if you're looking at a league that's, that's built on that premise, I just can't get into it.

[00:35:48] Mat Germain: I can't, like, I don't know how long I'm going to last mark. This is essentially what I'm saying. 

[00:35:52] Mark Corbett: If this 

[00:35:54] Mat Germain: continues to happen over and over again And we keep seeing large markets in there because there's about spending everybody else. I don't want to watch that I don't watch formula one for that reason and I respect nascar for that reason because they do have that that sort of   gateway uh that you need to have in order to To be competitive and yadda, yadda, yadda, um, that's, I don't want to pour water on the World Series because I do think there's a lot of good stories like you were saying the MVPs are a good, great story.

[00:36:26] Mat Germain: Um, the fact that, um, the, the teams did spend the money that they had, they didn't sit on it. We saw in previous years, the Yankees,  , you could say pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars instead of spending it. Right and they were called out for it. So yes, I get that angle of it as well Why are they sitting on is it better that they take it home?

[00:36:46] Mat Germain: No, of course not What i'm saying is that the system needs to be either um complicated enough to allow small market teams to compete   while everybody's getting paid, which is what we had when they had the shifts and everything else or You have to put in caps and things in place and floors so that everybody is somewhat within a decent range Even if we want to call it a hundred million like that would be a better place than where we are right now It's insane the gap that there is right now.

[00:37:19] Mat Germain: You're talking about the guardians were ousted They spent 70 million and they were up against the team that was that spent 358 million like Come on, what are we doing? That's like watching Mike Tyson beat up on, uh,  , on your little brother. It just, what are you doing? So I was hoping so badly that we would have one Cinderella story to keep following, uh, unfortunately it didn't happen and, and we're seeing.

[00:37:48] Mat Germain: Like I said, we're seeing the worst of it, which is MLB getting the proof that they want it, which was that the ratings are going to be there if you have two large market teams outspending everybody and getting in there. 

[00:38:00] Mark Corbett: Well, I'm with you, my friend. It's, um, yeah, I always hated when I see the last Cinderella leave, leave the ball.

[00:38:07] Mark Corbett: And,  , we kept watching the brackets for the post season and. I'm so glad to see guardians. I said, come on, guardians. Come on, come on. Once you guys please stick in there, it didn't happen. And  , they're not, that's not to say they didn't put forth the effort. They did, but pocketbooks can really strengthen the talent out there in the field and on the mound.

[00:38:30] Mark Corbett: So that's what it comes down to, but I do want to bring up again between games two and three on the MLB network. There is going to be a special documentary called See Her, Be Her by Jean Fruth. She's this fantastic photographer and it's Focus is on women's baseball, right? And yeah, yeah. I'm, I want to continue to, uh, remind folks about this because I've seen her work before and it's just amazing.

[00:39:05] Mark Corbett: I mean, the stills that she's done, she has some books out there. And by the way, if you like music, I saw one of the other, of the stones that she had at a concert that it's like, I gotta have this. I've got to have that photo. So. But, uh, the, the documentary is really great. It covers everything from like,  , one of the first women announcers that you have ladies from the all Americans out there, like Lois Youngins and, um, who's the other one?

[00:39:33] Mark Corbett: Maybe I'll Blair.  , you also have people who actually been on the show before, uh, Maggie Meidlinger, who's does something called, uh, geez, baseball at heart, whereas she goes even to other countries like Uganda and works with them and helps ladies there with the game. It's just so exciting to see all of that going on, seeing people like Veronica Alvarez, who's a coach with the minor leagues for the Oakland A's,  , there's just some really great talent.

[00:40:01] Mark Corbett: Talent out there to be seen. And so take your time on that date between uh, games two and three and check that out. It's well worth seeing.

[00:40:14] Mark Corbett: Yep. Uh, let's see. I would like to come back to the Rays world here again, my friend, and say what's happening with the stadium?  , what are we looking at as possibilities when and where these boys will be playing this year? I know you put the question out there too, and you've got a lot of different pieces of feedback and.

[00:40:34] Mark Corbett: Some of them just some nasty noise from people who don't like to Rays, but there are some good suggestions too. I was wondering if you could share some of that with us. 

[00:40:43] Mat Germain: Sure. So, uh, I lived through the end of the, the Montreal Expos and one of the things that they did, I think everybody knows, or that was around at the time, unless you're a young person, um, they ended up going to Puerto Rico.

[00:40:58] Mat Germain: And, and so I know the Rays are not going to sign a contract and, and play all their games in Puerto Rico, right? Right. They could go there for a certain period of time in order to play some of their games. Um,  , for, I don't know, two, three, four series. And what they have down there is the Haram, uh, Bithorn Stadium, which has over 18, 000 capacity.

[00:41:24] Mat Germain: It would be able to. I know baseball is trying to branch out, right? They're trying to play more games around the world so that it would improve that profile. They could choose the games at a time when the rays are generally getting more rain than they normally would elsewhere. And so kind of mitigate that a little bit.

[00:41:43] Mat Germain: There's also the option of, uh, what, what's the summers like in Nebraska? Are they extremely hot or are they tolerable? Uh, because again, you have the, uh,  , in Omaha, you have the Charles Schwab field that they use for the, um, the Big East and they're able to actually fit 24, 000 people in there. So I could see that as a strong option to play two or three series.

[00:42:08] Mat Germain: Maybe a bit more. Um, another place that I could see like any of the N C double a larger stadiums. There's another one that's in Mississippi. I think it's called the duty. Noble's field. Um, it's about 15, 000 capacity and so they'd be able to fit a good amount in there. Smith's ballpark in Salt Lake City.

[00:42:27] Mat Germain: We know Utah is trying to get a baseball team eventually. So in mid summer, that 1 would be a viable candidate to host a couple of series. But like I told you before we started talking, I think I don't see the rays venturing too far away from Tampa for the majority of the games. So whether it's Orlando, whether it's Charlotte, whether it's our Lang, I know you mentioned our Lang.

[00:42:52] Mat Germain: Um, I think,  , they're gonna want to stick close to home for at least half, maybe two thirds of the games. Um, I just think there's also the opportunity to To kind of have a,  , a cash in, I guess you could call it by playing at other stadiums when it makes sense to cash in a little bit more fans and also protect yourself from some of the weather related issues you can get in Florida in July and in August.

[00:43:21] Mark Corbett: I like that. I mean, it's unfortunate this whole circumstance, but it does offer up different kind of opportunities to saying, okay, what can we do?  , you can broaden awareness of the game and some of those places that really haven't had baseball there.  , some of the, the larger stadiums elsewhere, um,  , we got so many transplants down here in Tampa who carry the love of their own team.

[00:43:45] Mark Corbett: So many from New York and so many from Boston, it's, I can, I'm thinking the kind of the reverse of that by sending the rays out and whether they go to Nebraska or some other places, would we cultivate fans for Tampa Bay in other States? Yeah, it 

[00:44:04] Mat Germain: could happen. It doesn't take much for a kid, like, if you're, think about it, if you're a kid growing up in Nebraska,  , you're not, you're not getting a baseball team, like, more than likely.

[00:44:15] Mat Germain: Uh, so,  , you, the only one for your dad takes you to your first professional game and it happens to be the Rays against somebody else. Who knows, maybe you adopt them as your team and you say,   what, I'm going to follow them from now on. And the world of technology being what it is today, you, you're not going to be blacked out in Nebraska for all the Rays games.

[00:44:36] Mat Germain: So you're actually at a benefit viewing wise. 

[00:44:40] Mark Corbett: Oh, I'm, I'm looking here at the Nebraska trailer and it says average summer temperatures range from the low sixties to the high eighties. Yeah. Yeah. It sounds nice. Uh, uh, off the bin a little bit here, but I saw MLB today and there was a post where they were talking to young little kids, probably about four or five years old about baseball.

[00:45:00] Mark Corbett: And they said, which team do you want to, what do you want to go to? And it was, I don't know where they were, but it was a warmer state and the kids said, well, I want to be up with the blue Jays. So. He said, really, he said, do   how cold it is up there? And he, he looked a little, well, maybe not. And he said, would you take your parents with you?

[00:45:18] Mark Corbett: You went up there. He says, yeah, yeah. He's ready, man.  , somehow he's already bought into the blue Jays and he's ready to travel. So who knows? Maybe we'll get some new folks to come into Tampa through all this terrible mess. 

[00:45:37] Mat Germain: Yeah. Yeah, and the other thing that the what the part that I want to know, and I'm kind of most curious about, I guess, is first of all, are they going to replace the roof?

[00:45:48] Mat Germain: Or are they just going to tear it off and add, um, add the drainage that they would require? Like, what option are they going to go with? Are they just going to start tearing it down early and start doing the build,  , try to speed that up as much as they can, and just deal with it for three years and say,   what, build?

[00:46:05] Mat Germain: Paying, I don't know, what do you want to call it, uh, 5 million, 10 million for a makeshift roof that's going to last three years before you tear it down? Is that really worthwhile? Like, I, I don't know. I don't know what the cost They're going to have to do a cost analysis and go, Okay, well what's the better way to spend the money?

[00:46:26] Mat Germain: And is it more of an advantage for the development in the area to tear it down early? And, and, and really Because it's owned by St. Pete, right? So they're the ones who are going to have to make the call. And have to say, well, we have a lease with the Rays for this many games. It's going to cost us this much to put the roof on again.

[00:46:44] Mat Germain: It's, we're going to have to absorb the cost. The Rays aren't going to pay us for it. So. So, is it worth it for us to do that, or do we just rip up the lease at this point and say,   what, you can play your games,  , wherever you want. Maybe they can use a bit of muscle to say, ah, Lang would be,  , the priority.

[00:47:02] Mat Germain: I don't know. Uh, but yeah, that, that angle,  , from the St. Petersburg side of it is, is interesting. It's sort of, uh,  , I don't know what those numbers look like in terms of rebuild. I don't think there's many contractors out there that have rebuilt this kind of roof. Like 

[00:47:18] Mark Corbett: who 

[00:47:18] Mat Germain: do you hire? Like, I don't know.

[00:47:21] Mat Germain: And are they even available with the work that needs to be done in the area? Like there's so many ingredients in this. 

[00:47:28] Mark Corbett: Oh, yeah. I mean, uh, I remember years ago I was in Louisville and there was a, um, Volkswagen dealer and Volkswagen was coming and telling all the different dealerships they had to modify how their buildings looked.

[00:47:45] Mark Corbett: And this one particular dealership, everything stopped as far as production because the, uh, what was it? Not the cement, but it was a special type of product that you would use for the walls. And it was exactly what they needed.  , for the Pentagon and other places so that any of those resources were going to be used somewhere else long before they were going to be used to modify a VW dealership.

[00:48:15] Mark Corbett: So the same thing that you're saying here is that,  , there's plenty of other things that need attention as far as housing and such, and this, the roof of the Rayss is a luxury at best,  , so I don't know, Mat, I mean. There's season. I can tell you, I mean, the rain, when it comes down, it comes down hard sometimes here during the hurricane season.

[00:48:36] Mark Corbett: Yeah, it's driving through. It's just unimaginable. Sometimes it's like driving through a sheet of rain for long distance. So there would, I can't, I can't even begin to imagine the mechanics of what they would do without a roof and the idea of St Pete saying,  , we're not going to spend that. We're not going to spend five, 10 million, whatever it takes to get this thing done.

[00:49:02] Mark Corbett: Yeah. For a stopgap, I,  , we should probably talk to Colleen Wright, see if she can sharing more with us about what's going on in the mind of St. Pete, uh, Councilman and Mayor over there on this. 

[00:49:16] Mat Germain: Right. It's a big decision because I mean, there's, there's so many ingredients involved and so many, like you said, important needs that need to be met.

[00:49:25] Mat Germain: I don't know what the, um, like, every, every city has contingencies. They have ways of getting funding from other avenues for different things. Um, and sometimes it just happens to be a bucket of money that you can only. Spend on this kind of thing. So maybe the money is there and it can only be spent on that kind of thing um, but I my feeling is that if they were able to Transfer that money over and announce that to another,   cause that is a bit more.

[00:49:53] Mat Germain: Um humanitarian centric, it would probably be well received by people in the area who definitely need the assistance. Um, and I'm just thinking out loud, like three years, like 20, 25, 26, 27 is not. A crazy amount of time to suffer through,  , the rays have been what they've been dealing with the trop now for how long like with students writing this threading that doing this doing this shit like it's been forever.

[00:50:23] Mat Germain: It feels like forever. So three years is a blink of an eye. You're looking at the seasons that they would have to juggle things for a bit. And   what? If anything, it puts the Rays more in the news than they otherwise might be. So it's a marketing,  , opportunity more than anything else in my mind.

[00:50:42] Mat Germain: So if I'm the Rays, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Spend the money on other things. We'll deal with the scheduling issues and we'll deal with the stadium issues, wherever it is that we decide to set up some app routes, uh, that'll probably cost less and we'll make this a marketing dream until we actually get the new stadium in place.

[00:51:05] Mark Corbett: Well, I like that positive look toward it, Mat. And I hope that's the case.  , it's a part of me is wondering too, what ideas will be coming up,  , just like we've seen in the past, all these designs for a new stadium. Can you imagine there's probably engineers sitting there with pen and pencil right now on a draft board trying to figure something out, whether it be a drainage system or some other type of temporary roof, it's going to be interesting to see how this comes into play over the next next couple of years.

[00:51:37] Mat Germain: A giant umbrella with a pole right behind you're right between second and base and shortstop. 

[00:51:44] Mark Corbett: I love it. Absolutely. Love it. All right. 

[00:51:47] Mat Germain: And you can take it down when the hurricane passes through. 

[00:51:53] Mark Corbett: Oh, wow. Oh, is there any other good stuff we should cover today, buddy? 

[00:51:58] Mat Germain: Uh, the interesting thing, Xavier Isaac is playing in the outfield.

[00:52:04] Mat Germain: In the afl, I don't know if anybody knows that he's playing right field tonight. Uh, he Trey morgan's doing extremely well leading off for their team and he's hitting 400. He had as a double a hit in the walk today Uh the af sorry the Australian baseball league kicks off on the 14th of november. So that's coming up around the Corner, maybe three weeks away.

[00:52:26] Mat Germain: Um, and with the world series starting on Friday, that basically means we're just under two weeks away from transactions,  , bonanza when it comes to,  , teams doing direct stream make overs. So, uh, it's going to be fun. Like the world series is going to be fun. Enjoy it. And, uh. Uh, I'll be, I'll be the one, the old man, basically, in the top deck, just that,

[00:52:55] Mat Germain: yeah, I'm moving on. I'm, I'm in 2025 mode, Mark. 

[00:52:59] Mark Corbett: I hear you, brother. I'm all about it. So a lot of good things going on. I'm glad you're seeing what's happening out there with the Arizona league and looking forward to seeing the Perth Heat in Australia here in a few weeks too. So fun things to come. All right, my friend.

[00:53:14] Mark Corbett: Well, if that's it, let's go ahead and give her a wrap. And thank you everybody. Once again, for joining Mat and I here today on baseball biz on deck. And we look forward to talking with you all again, real soon. Special thanks to XtakeRUX for the music rocking forward. Remember, you can find Baseball Biz on Deck here.

[00:53:34] Mark Corbett: You can find it on Twitter. You can find it on YouTube. You can find it on Spotify and wherever you look online, we're there. All right. You ready to go, Mat? I'm ready, buddy. All right. Enjoy the rest of the week, everybody. Oh, man.  , I've got, uh, I'll stop. Yeah, I'm thinking I'm going to find