Tampa Bay Rays put Pirates & Mariners to sea - RaysUp

• 15 days before St Pete council votes on new stadium
• 81 games - at halfway point
• Rays' hovering around 500
• Seattle Mariners winning 2 of 3 in series
• Importance of maintaining momentum into July
• Paul Skenes' pitching & comparisons to Randy Johnson
• Yandy Díaz's hitting streaks
• Great performances - Ben Rortvedt, Ahmed Rosario, & Randy Arozarena
• Praise for Jose Siri's defensive skills & offensive contributions
• Rays' batting lineup & how it has evolved
• Balancing the lineup & keeping pitchers honest
• Mat's perspective on Kevin Cash's managerial decisions
• Importance of team collaboration & decision-making 
• Debate on pitching decision on Ryan Pepiot
• Analysis of managing pitchers' workload & maintaining their confidence
• Plays by Richie Palacios & Jose Caballero
• Caballero's aggressive baserunning
• Praise for Siri's showmanship & defensive prowess in center field
• Kevin Cash's Leadership 
• Tenure & his approach to managing the team
• Cash's consistent performance
• Collaborative style & his role in the Rays' successes
• Speculations on the Rays' strategies for the second half of the season
• Importance of maintaining offensive momentum & making strategic additions at trade deadline
• Rays' prospects & potential moves
• Optimistic outlook for the Rays 
• Washington Nationals &  Rays, comparing their records  &  standings 
• Nationals 38-42 record, similar to the Rays, despite having more losses
• Florida Baseball Biz Introduction to a new episode of Florida Baseball Biz featuring the coach of Tampa Jesuit High School, Miguel Menendez
• Doug Wechter & Gary Sheffield – parents in the stands
• Upcoming Opponents
• Overview of Rays’ upcoming opponents: Royals, Rangers, Yankees, & Guardians
• Analysis of Yankees’ recent struggles & the Guardians' strong performance
• All-Star Voting Deadlines
•  Minor League Updates - Montgomery Biscuits clinching playoffs 
• Highlights of players' performances in minor leagues, including Jeffrey Springs & Trevor Martin
• Yankees’ Challenges - Discussion on Yankees' roster issues & potential trade rumors involving Vladimir Guerrero Jr
•  Rays Front Office Dynamics - Deep dive into the impact of front office decisions on team performance  &  fan engagement
• Different franchises’ front office cultures & their influence on success
• Analysis of ownership influence, focusing on Stu Sternberg’s management of the Rays & future expectations
• How long will Stu Sternberg remain the Rays’ owner after new stadium is built
• Steinbrenner model?
• Minor Leagues movement – Curtis Mead, DeLuca, Brandon Lowe 

Thanks to Mat Germain for bringing his knowledge, wit and wisdom to the show. You can catch more of Mat on Twitter x.com @Mat_Germain_   
 Mark can be found on Twitter x.com  @TheBaseballBiz & and at  http://www.baseballbizondeck.com
Subscribe, follow and rate the show. Thank you.
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Special thanks to XTaKeRuX for the music “Rocking Forward"

Transcript

242, RaysUp, Tampa Bay Rays with Mat Germain

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

[00:00:14] Mat Germain: I'm just waiting on 15 days, Mark. 

[00:00:18] Mark Corbett: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those good people in St. Pete on that council. They've they're all taking their little summer break here. I guess a couple of weeks off. I know we talked last week, Colleen Ray from the Tampa Bay Times.

[00:00:30] Mark Corbett: She's taking her vacation during this time because she's going to hit the ground running, covering what's happening with, with them and their votes to get. The new race stadium, you know, I'm still getting the questions, man. People coming up to me everywhere saying, well, so, so you're ready for the new stadium?

[00:00:46] Mark Corbett: I said, yeah. As soon as they put the girders in the ground, you know, I've been, 

[00:00:51] Mat Germain: I've been looking online at the, at the cameras over in, in the Tampa Bay region, and I'm pretty sure I saw Stu Sternberg's yacht, with all the council people on, on board. but I can't confirm that. They just couldn't. Some of the faces were a little blurry, so 

[00:01:07] Mark Corbett: I love it, brother. I absolutely love it. So, yeah, you know, they, they better give him some pretty good box seats. This is a, that's geez, my knees. Oh, my gosh. No, we're, we're waiting for it. So we'll see what happens. 15 days. Like you said, waiting to see it come. But, yeah, here we are, man.

[00:01:30] Mark Corbett: I was, I was here in the, in my mind, the old AC DC Hills bells, those are, are the undertaker when he's wrestling that gong, because I realized today we're at 81 games today being Wednesday, June 26. This is the half of the regular season. 

[00:01:50] Mat Germain: Wow. Yep. And if, if you had listed off all the things that happened to the raise and not told me what the record was and, and had asked me whether or not I was glad that they're hovering somewhere around 500, I would say I am ecstatic.

[00:02:09] Mat Germain: Yeah, it's a big thing 

[00:02:12] Mark Corbett: for me. Yeah, that's the truth, brother. I mean, here we were, I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever see. That's winning a series again, where things have been going, but we certainly had, we put two of them back to back and let's face it, we were just, finished up with the Seattle Mariners, they're leading their division, granted, not by a lot, but then today we couldn't, go ahead and sweep it.

[00:02:40] Mark Corbett: They, they took that part of the pie away from us. 

[00:02:43] Mat Germain: Right.  the Rays ran into some good pitching and just couldn't put things together the way they had their two previous games, but to win a series against the Seattle Mariners is a great first step towards having a much better second half. So let's just hope that they keep building on that.

[00:02:59] Mat Germain: If they win the majority of their series through the July,  they'll be in a really good place. 

[00:03:07] Mark Corbett: You know, I would enjoy watching these games. Who was the fellow for the, the parts, the pitcher, Paul skeins. Yes. Watching him pitch. Oh, what's that? Was that just like watching magic? What that man could do with the ball.

[00:03:21] Mat Germain: who it reminded me of? Cause I saw him start off with the Montreal expos was Randy Johnson, but like just somebody that can do things that nobody else can, and not really knowing where he could take. that, too. Now, having said that, Randy Johnson was pretty. You know, reliant on, on,, on the speed of his fastball.

[00:03:45] Mat Germain: Whereas Paul Skeens, you can see the repertoire beyond that if he needs to lean on it. So they're a little bit different styles in that way. But I just mean the sheer dominance of that fastball when they want to use it and just dominate people, it's, it's ridiculous what they can do. 

[00:04:01] Mark Corbett: Yeah, you never really want to see your opponent do so well, but it was amazing to have the opportunity to watch him.

[00:04:08] Mark Corbett: And by the way, we did hand it a defeat to the pirates in that particular game. So yay team, gosh, you know, I don't know if it was last week or week before you were kind of. Egging me on a little bit, said, mark, you, you gotta, you gotta find a little bit more of a positive too about some of these things.

[00:04:26] Mark Corbett: And you're right, . So I started saying, okay, I, I'm gonna find some points of sunshine today. We, we did have 500 yesterday and we, we kissed it up into the wind. It, it was nice while it visited. Mm-Hmm. . But yeah, . But what got us there has been a lot of fun. I mean, one of the, those, raise of sunshine comes from Mr.

[00:04:50] Mark Corbett: Yadi Diaz. Is what now 19 games he's had a hit I believe yeah 19. Wow and What are we what else has he done 28 games? He's been on he's gotten on base And what has he done with his ribbies? He's done pretty well there, too I believe also but yadi ds has just been amazing and I got to tell you, I thought I was having a bit of deja vu yesterday.

[00:05:17] Mark Corbett: I, I turned on the game and I was late getting to put it on. And there we are. Yandi's at bat, bam, home run first pitch. And I thought for a moment there, Mat, that I had the wrong day of, I thought I'm not doing a replay from the day before. 

[00:05:36] Mat Germain: Yeah, the, he actually took Paul schemes deep as well. So, you know, the, he's had some big moments, his power is starting to come up.

[00:05:44] Mat Germain: , the three home runs he hit, in the month of June, or I guess it would be four after today's,, we're off some really great pitchers. So, you know, he's seen the ball. Well, obviously he leads off, so he's had the most played appearances among the race, and  he's hitting three 40 for the month.

[00:06:03] Mat Germain:, so that's taking it up a notch, to say the least. The other two I would mention along with them are Ben Roortveld and,, Ahmed Rosario, as well as Randy Rosarena. Those four,, you know, have, have kind of hopped onto the, the, the train that was Jose Siri, you know, trying to light up the entire roster, and have really supported his efforts, by, by starting the, Deepen and give the Rays more production from everywhere through the lineup, which is what they needed so bad, because there was so many dry spells in, in, in almost like two thirds of the lineup on most games in May that it was just almost a depressing, you'd see Socrates or somebody else have one good game and ended, you know, nothing would be consistently strong.

[00:06:54] Mat Germain: whereas now you're starting to see things picking up momentum and I would attribute a lot of that to moving on from certain guys, which indirectly, is keeping people accountable, getting more balance in the lineup in terms of lefty righty,, you know, even though Brandon Lau hurt his toe there, there's just a healthier number of at bats for the right guys.

[00:07:19] Mat Germain: With the right balance, that's keeping the opposing pitchers honest. so now that people are starting to have success, you're seeing that infectious energy sort of build up and, guys are coming up with some big hits and more power. The power was so needed in the month of June. And I mean, you have, , five guys, six guys that have three or more home runs in a month and last month, it was nothing near that.

[00:07:48] Mat Germain:, so. It's great to see the race definitely need it, but they needed to keep it going. They can't lay off the gas pedal. Like you said, we're halfway through the year and that offensive momentum is, is what's going to help the raise decide whether or not the ad at the deadline or whether or not they take a step back in some way, shape or form.

[00:08:13] Mark Corbett: Well, and they have come alive and you were talking about Rort Fed as well. Rort Fed, I've always looked at him as expecting a lot as a catcher because that strong arm, that strong arm of his getting somebody out at, you know, running over to second, he's been pretty good about that. So that's pretty much where I laid the strength on him.

[00:08:29] Mark Corbett: And I thought, yeah, he's got the arms to do some heavy hitting, but he has just shined like nobody's business this past week, showing what he can do, you know, there at the plate. I mean, not behind the plate, but. You know, with the bat right there, it's like, oh my goodness, 

[00:08:45] Mat Germain: it's been exciting to watch him.

[00:08:47] Mat Germain: Well, how we were talking about the Reyes not having the Radley Rutchman. Well, I was looking yesterday or this morning at the, the top, catchers when it comes to F War, for the F just means Fangraphs. with, so in terms of F War, he's, he's 10th before today's game., in terms of value among catchers in the league, that's balancing the defense and the offense.

[00:09:15] Mat Germain: So you have to like the fact that they found him. There's a lot of people that are still waiting for Alex Jackson to, to come alive. But, at least you have that one catcher that you can point at and say that guy's been productive on both sides of the ball. 

[00:09:33] Mark Corbett: Right? Right. He certainly is. Yeah, I know. It seems like Alex Jackson.

[00:09:38] Mark Corbett: We keep wondering if he'll come out of that cocoon and be a butterfly. But I don't know if that's going to completely happen. I got a question for you though, Mat, when I was watching the game today and I'm seeing Pepiot and he's gone five and a third innings. And he's got,  he's got like eight strikeouts and two walks and I'm thinking, is it really time to pull him just yet?

[00:10:00] Mark Corbett: What'd you think? Were you surprised? 

[00:10:02] Mat Germain: I'm not really, because he's gotten himself into trouble.  Kevin Cash in this case wanted him to leave without that letdown at the end. so he wanted to leave him with, with just a fully positive outing and then build on that the next time out fresh. Because Pepiot has been.

[00:10:21] Mat Germain: A little bit more, raw than Taj Bradley has in terms of consistency. And a lot of it's been, you know, that fourth, fifth inning., so I understand that the poll, they, they saw enough command and control positives in the first five innings that they're like, okay, we're happy, we have a fairly fresh pen, especially now that they called up Edwin.

[00:10:44] Mat Germain: You said,, so. There was no need to push him beyond where they had him and, and he's still throwing, you know, pretty hard all the way through his outings., so he's not the kind of guy that will lay off the gas pedal velocity while he's very much as he goes through a game. So  that's fine.

[00:11:05] Mark Corbett: Okay. Well, that, that makes a little more sense. And I said, if you realize that your pitchers had trouble going much more than that and saying, well, why would I let him get into trouble again and just possibly pull down his mind or. You know, his attitude a little bit for the game. So I get that. Okay. Okay.

[00:11:22] Mark Corbett: That makes sense. And Oh yeah. We're talking about sunshine though. Look, look at Richie Palacios. Now what he's gone 26 consecutive games without a strikeout. It's like, yeah, yeah. He's just, longest active streak ahead of Miguel Vargas with 24. With the Dodgers. Yeah. And so that's, that's been pretty cool.

[00:11:46] Mark Corbett: Then you look at Caballero. Oh gosh. I just love watching Caballero. What did you enjoy the bottom of the third inning today, my friend? 

[00:11:54] Mat Germain: Yes. And the way he's running the aggressiveness, but the smarts of it all to love it all. I'm a big Caballero fan. I loved the trade at the time. I didn't know that all the other left handed bats were going to be get hurt.

[00:12:08] Mat Germain: So Luke Grayley would have been nice to have, but Caballero has been a joy to watch. I know there's some people frustrated with his defense, but offensively he's been just great to watch. 

[00:12:19] Mark Corbett: I mean, what is it he's got now?  leading with 24 stolen bases. I don't know if that puts him 10 above anybody else in the race, maybe not that much, but he's leading pretty strongly there and that if folks, if you didn't see the game today, Afternoon game and the bottom of the third.

[00:12:37] Mark Corbett: So you see a couple of things happen in this poor Kirby, the guy who's pitching for, for the Mariners. He gets throws it. He's been watching Caballero one second, because Caballero is looking like he's going to take off, you know, at any time. And he wounds up where he said, okay, I've just got to pitch to Yandy Diaz.

[00:12:54] Mark Corbett: I can't think about him for a moment. So he pitches to Diaz. Diaz hits it. Virtually down the first baseline, there's nobody down there. Not a soul. What, but no, it didn't, it didn't go to the first baseline. It went, it bounced and went to the pitcher. Didn't it? That's right. It hit the ground, went to the pitcher.

[00:13:13] Mark Corbett: Cause at first I thought that was, at first I thought he caught it on a fly. Kirby that is. He looks, Kirby then tries to decide what he's going to do with the ball. Well, he, he looks at third, looks over to first and realize there is nobody, nobody anywhere near first. So he starts to run, but by then it's too late.

[00:13:33] Mark Corbett: Yadi gets his, his gets his own base. He gets his hit and then Caballero comes up with it from second and all the way into home. And mostly because Kirby was like, what,  he just didn't know where his people were and what was happening on the field. 

[00:13:50] Mat Germain: Yeah, it's one of those situal awareness things.

[00:13:53] Mat Germain: And  some people started pointing out the, had the struggles that he'd had at the, you know, against the raise in the past. So they, you know, sometimes it's just, you know, You're not really, thinking things through on the fly. So, it happens, but the fact, I love the fact that Jose Caballero, you know, kept his head on a swivel and really chugged down the line after the, the play was developing at first base and, and scored on the play.

[00:14:22] Mat Germain: So a lot of guys would have held up, wanted to know what the outcome was going to be. He was like, nah, I'm going. That's it. 

[00:14:30] Mark Corbett: He's just been amazing to watch. And  another one, like, so long as we're talking about the pieces of sunshine and we mentioned Siri earlier, but geez, the, the, the ballet he does out there in center field to catch some of those balls has been very exciting.

[00:14:49] Mark Corbett: The man is a showman. And I know I've referenced this before that once upon a time, Trisha Whittaker was doing an interview with him and asked him, What he would do, or what he would want to be if he wasn't a baseball player. And he said, an actor said, no doubt, no doubt. I mean, he's a showman brother, you know, and, and that's fine.

[00:15:09] Mark Corbett: I like those guys. They're a little bit of a showboat and they're performing. That's great. 

[00:15:14] Mat Germain: Yep. I see him laying down there at the top of the steps and I've always said his nickname should be the Puma, but, but he, he loves that, that lightning bolt. So, you know, I get the, the whole speed angle on them, but you're right.

[00:15:29] Mat Germain: He's just so smooth and kind of a flashy loves to be in the spotlight a little bit like Randy does. Yeah. But, but  he, he's learned a lot of things this year, a lot and, tough lessons often are the ones that leave the biggest imprints. So let's, let's hope it keeps going. 

[00:15:49] Mark Corbett: I'm sure it will, you know, and you're talking about learning lessons.

[00:15:53] Mark Corbett: A lot of that comes down to having the right coach and manager. And we look at Kevin Cash and I look out there sometimes and what I'm seeing, man, is like on X, somebody who has a handle, like our Kevin Cash. I thought, dude, come on. Really? You know, 

[00:16:09] Mat Germain: geez, so thankless world. The guy takes your team to the playoffs five years in a row.

[00:16:15] Mat Germain: And the second there's any kind of hiccup, they want him fired. It's funny. It's kind of crazy.  sometimes we're too harsh. Sometimes we are fair in questioning certain things and nobody's perfect. Nobody's going to, agree on anything, everything all the time. I just think baseball is a lot of fun because of the questions we ask, at key moments and the way that we watch the game and the way we think about the game.

[00:16:44] Mat Germain: You'll have Guys that make their first all star game and are just, you know, raving about the fact that they got to rub shoulders with guys that have had so much success and got to ask them a bunch of questions. And I'm like, you've been in the game how long? And you're asking, you're still asking questions about this, that, and the other thing from the greats because there's so many little tiny details.

[00:17:09] Mat Germain: And when you're thinking about Kevin Cash, that's what he's weighing. He's all those finer Tiny details. He will talk to the guys before the game. He knows who's sore, who's hurt, who had this or that. Like there's information that he has that we do not have access to. So I'm always a little bit fair on that part.

[00:17:30] Mat Germain:, and I try not to, jump to the whole firing things. 

[00:17:36] Mark Corbett: Yeah. That's like, come on, give me a break. People is it's so easy to say, well, you know, he's lost the last two games. Yeah. Well, you know, take a vet. Well, I don't want to say take a value. It's probably not a good suggestion, but settle down folks, you know, just, find your little corner, do some yoga, something relaxed because one, it's a game.

[00:17:56] Mark Corbett: And two. This man's record speaks for itself. There's a reason that the Rays have kept him now for 10 years. There's a reason he's the most tenured manager in major league baseball right now. And it's because of the consistency of what he's been able to do with what the front office gives him. 

[00:18:14] Mat Germain: I also think it's because he's, he works as part of a team.

[00:18:17] Mat Germain: Like he's not the guy that's going to walk in there and say, I know everything that's going on. And I'm going to say it's this. Right. That's, that's Luella. If you want Luella, that's that, that's what you're getting. Right? But, but Kevin Cash will go into a room and say, what's going on, . And then he'll get all the information for everybody.

[00:18:38] Mat Germain: Everybody will have their say and they know that they're expected to have their say and they'll come to an agreement. But among the group that, you know, this is the way forward, um. And so it's never just kevin catch on the moment. Sure. He has to make calls and be Willing to you know,  we've seen a couple of times this year where he's admitted to making mistakes or not making a right call or not,  I can't remember what it was There was one where he should have been aware of something that happened and he wasn't and he admitted it He said what I should have paid more attention in that moment, so that's another aspect, the integrity that he has as a manager to say, what?

[00:19:20] Mat Germain: Yeah, I messed up and I know my guys will mess up too. And we'll have conversations about how they messed up. That's just, that's the way it is. And I always liken it to, I I've served in the air force and, we have a flight safety system that is non punitive. Right. So guys would not tell you the truth about any situation if they knew they were going to get punished for it.

[00:19:43] Mat Germain: So it's the same with a manager, with a player, they have to be have, they have to have an environment where it's okay to have messed up so that everybody can learn from it and that they can get stronger and better together. So  that's been a strength of the Rays. The entire time Kevin Cash has been the manager and it's only gotten better and it's it actually goes all the way through the organization to be quite honest where that's the expectation and the players love it.

[00:20:09] Mat Germain: I, I'm telling you right now that I've heard it in interviews over and over and over again. They love the franchise for that, that the fact that they're able to have approachable people that will work with them as a team and, and help them get better and improve regardless of what their level is. So.

[00:20:29] Mat Germain: Kevin Cash is safe and Eric Neander is safe and you guys should be loving the fact that they are with the race. 

[00:20:36] Mark Corbett: Amen. Amen indeed, man. They're making a difference. I mean, everything you see from Kyle Snyder to Motto. You know, what he does as far as getting those guys. Tuned up with their vetting and you feel a camaraderie across that team on and on.

[00:20:55] Mark Corbett: It makes a difference. You know, you and I've talked about glue guys in the past. I said, he said, well, we need, I said, we need another Willie Thomas, but you look across there and there seems to be a lot of guys who bring them together. I mean, I don't see necessarily just one person we've talked about.  Josh, you know, maybe being one of those people or Brandon being one of those people, but, 

[00:21:15] Mat Germain: They'll make the thing too is that's what makes their decisions harder in some cases Like we saw them part ways with the rasmal ramirez after He had been on a reunion tour sort of thing and it was hard for them to move on Even though the signs were all there that they needed to still after the the evidence got strong enough They got together as a group.

[00:21:37] Mat Germain: They decided. Yeah, it's time to move on and then it was harold ramirez same deal Everybody loved him great group guy You Just couldn't make it work for whatever reason in 2024, they got together, they had the enough evidence and the timing was right to move on and they moved on. They made that tough call.

[00:21:54] Mat Germain: Same thing with Chris Davinsky that we just saw this week, but you know, it was time and I, I said it when he came out and I'm not one of those negative people normally. But I said, well, every time they bring him out, I wonder what their commitment to winning is, especially when it's in a 1 1 game in the seventh, it doesn't make any sense to me.

[00:22:15] Mat Germain: And I still believe to this day that the outcomes would have been better if they hadn't tried to lengthen him right to that to anything, because what it did is it reduced the velocity that he's using., With this slider, especially because he can only then use his changeup to get any swings and misses and everybody knows it and they're sitting on that pitch and they're just, they're able to, even though it's still a tough pitch to hit, right, it's not, you know, Mariano Rivera.

[00:22:48] Mat Germain: one pitch kind of guy, he can't do that with his changeup. You need something to feed it off of, in order for it to work. So  I still think that if they had kept them as a one inning guy, he'd be having more success this year than, than he has had., I'll never be able to prove it. Maybe somebody else will pick him up and make him that and we'll see.

[00:23:10] Mat Germain:, but, but I wish him well, wherever he ends up and he's still young enough that he, he can figure it out and have, you know, many more years in the majors, somewhere. There's enough, enough people willing to give people shots to find some gold and perhaps a tradable piece at some point, but for the raise pen right now, what that does, those two moves, especially Erasmo.

[00:23:34] Mat Germain: And, Chris Davinsky is it takes off, the beginning guys, the guys that's tended to give up, you know, leads or tie games the most often I would just saw Sean Armstrong do that again today. And  he's the next one on the edge if he's not careful, Phil Maytons. Definitely in the crosshairs of a lot of people.

[00:23:58] Mat Germain: so the raise pen is not out of issues yet, but they're starting to make some of the right moves that they need to make before the deadline to figure out what it is that they have, because that's what you need to know before you make any moves at the deadline. Payton's 

[00:24:13] Mark Corbett: had a couple of good games though recently.

[00:24:15] Mark Corbett: I mean, it seems, I mean, compared to what he was having in the past. Yes. 

[00:24:18] Mat Germain: Yes, he has. 

[00:24:19] Mark Corbett: And that's good news. You know, and looking at today, pardon me again, man, looking at today with 13 strikeouts, you know, I'm looking for sunshine, even though we lost, it's 13 strikeouts, man, that's, that's huge. 

[00:24:38] Mat Germain: It is. Yep. The pitching, the starting pitching especially has been spot on, like really good.

[00:24:45] Mark Corbett: And it's so huge that after 10 strikeouts, you can go get a taco at TSNL Tijuana flats. So I can do that tomorrow. And since we won yesterday, with, with six or more that I was able to, you don't even have to win. You just have to have six runs and I can get pizza tonight and I get tacos tomorrow for relatively inexpensive price.

[00:25:08] Mark Corbett: So there's more sunshine. 

[00:25:10] Mat Germain: There you go. Get at it. 

[00:25:13] Mark Corbett: God, I sound mighty.  I'm back again to Tim Hortons, but, 

[00:25:19] Mat Germain: I'm going to open up a franchise in Tampa. 

[00:25:22] Mark Corbett: Come on, brother. Well, we'll work it out before you get down here for spring training. 

[00:25:27] Mat Germain: All I need is a half million. 

[00:25:31] Mark Corbett: Well, you got a couple of hockey, places down here.

[00:25:33] Mark Corbett: You know, it seemed like we could probably get some folks interested. We'll have to see what it is. Anyway. So next on the menu, we're looking at the nationals and they're going to be here. Then we run on, take a day off. What should we take tomorrow off? And then we do the, with the nationals. And  we take another day off and then to Kansas city with the Royals.

[00:25:54] Mark Corbett: Any predictions, any insights? 

[00:25:57] Mat Germain: So don't take the Nationals lightly. They have a very capable group. I posted something earlier this week about Jacob Young, and he's, he's one of the best defensive outfielders in the league right now. he's just. Haywire out there and he's really elevated their outfield, production.

[00:26:17] Mat Germain:, not as great a bat yet. Like he's still figuring things out, but he's productive. Lane Thomas, CJ Abrams, Jesse Winker, the guy's having the most success recently., they brought up, Harold Ramirez. An old friend. 

[00:26:31] Mark Corbett: So 

[00:26:31] Mat Germain: we might, we probably think we are going to see him, although the Rays aren't putting up a lefty.

[00:26:37] Mat Germain: So it would probably be off the bench. , we'll see. Kyber Ruiz is the, is their catcher. And he's really, he's really one of the better catchers out there that, you know, young guys that are coming up., so they have some pieces. They have guys that are interesting that they're building around.

[00:26:56] Mat Germain: They've been pesky, they've been consistently competitive. I just think that they're not exactly deep yet., so in terms of the, the vulnerabilities is basically the length of the roster and the depth of it and the options off the bench. Those are the big things that you'll see. Lacking a little bit like the pictures that we're seeing are not threatening in the least like Mitchell Parker, Jake Irvin and Patrick Corbin.

[00:27:25] Mat Germain: Patrick Corbin is, you know, everybody knows him. They know he's making big money. He's a significant, you know, arm in their pen and he is our inner rotation and he has had success, but he struggled. Like he's not getting swings and misses now that he used to,, and the Rays have a good lineup to put up against the lefty.

[00:27:45] Mat Germain: So that would be one that I would expect the Rays, you know, fight very hard for, to win., in terms of the other two, it's funny because you can have pitchers that you don't expect to do extremely well. but because the team has never seen them. They might have success. and that's, that's how I feel about Mitchell Parker.

[00:28:06] Mat Germain: He's, he's somebody that missed a lot of bats down in the minors. like he's gone up as high as 15K per nine in some instances and 13K per nine., but he's, he's a lefty that the Rays should be able to handle., and then, you know, the, the other one is Jake Irvin, who's a tall, right hander and,  he's probably having their best season out of the three that the Rays will face.

[00:28:36] Mat Germain: So he's probably the one they'll have the toughest time against., the Rays are conversely putting up against those three, Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale, and Todd Bradley. So when I look at that, I'm thinking Aaron Civale's start might be the most vulnerable, but Eflin, you know, he's had good ones, great ones, medium ones, who knows?

[00:28:56] Mat Germain: Bye.  the Rays are really hoping he puts on strong starts so that they have as many options of what to do with him as possible, you know, after the month of July is in the books.  they have the Rays have a chance to sweep, but I expect them to take 2 out of 3. 

[00:29:15] Mark Corbett: Well, good. I like that positive attitude toward, you know, they're not to be dismissed the Nationals.

[00:29:20] Mark Corbett: I mean, their, their record right now, they're the same in their division as we are their fourth. And let's see, they are 38 wins and 42 losses. So they're a little bit more in the cavity of the losses than we are, but, all in all still very, you know, doing similar to what the raise as far as achievement overall and see what else was going on here.

[00:29:43] Mark Corbett: Oh, Well, I'm thinking about it through self plug for another show. We have God. Florida baseball biz and got a show that went up today. It is the coach of the Tampa Jesuit high school team, and we're gonna try to do more Florida shows for them. We'll put that on Florida baseball biz. And it's interesting because, you know, we've, we've heard about teams before where they have, former MLB players or sits in the stands while their kids are out there.

[00:30:13] Mark Corbett: I know Doug Waechter,  he has a son. And Gary Sheffield as a son that's played on those teams. So it's, it's, interesting when you're there and looking at the guys in the stands and I asked him a little bit about, you know, did, do they see getting much from parents overall? Not just them. He said, oh, you know, it's pretty good.

[00:30:31] Mark Corbett: He says, I've reached out to Sheffield maybe once or twice for a little advice, but,, that's on Florida baseball biz and it's just. You down here, man, you're going to find out when you come in and you can't walk 5 feet without tripping over a baseball stoum,ry. It's, it's a good thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:30:52] Mark Corbett: You'll, you'll love it when you come down here, brother. It's it'll be a lot of fun. And like I said, if there's any pre work I can do before you come down, let me know. We'll, we'll, get that all set up for you. And, yeah. 

[00:31:05] Mat Germain: I got to figure out exactly what it is that I, I'm able to do in terms of number of games and where I'm going to set up.

[00:31:13] Mat Germain: And then we'll, we'll definitely hammer something out in that front., I, I will say that  MLB should put out that schedule earlier so that people can plan things. but I get it. It's not an easy thing to kind of, come to terms with. There's a lot of things moving around, but, Yeah, have more focus on the schedule between now and and the all star break to be honest the raise Are going to see the Royals, the Rangers, the Yankees and the Guardians for really tough opponents and the Yankees have been taking some knocks recently.

[00:31:52] Mat Germain:, you know, Jared Cole had a rough outing recently. Giancarlo Stanton is having a rough time. Juan Soto has a barking arm, barking elbow.,  the fans are getting a little bit restless. They're looking for. The GM to add a little bit between now and the deadline. So who knows, you know, if the Rays were able to kind of smack him around a little bit, will that amp things up for them?

[00:32:17] Mat Germain:, the Royals are having a struggle as well. So maybe the Rays are getting them at the right time. The Rangers have Max Scherzer back. They're expecting Jacob DeGrom back, you know, maybe after the all star break. So the Rays luck out not seeing,, the Grom, but the Guardians to me, when I look at those four teams, the Guardians are the ones that scare me the most, they have the most balanced team.

[00:32:40] Mat Germain: They have the team that seems to be the most, most consistent, the hardest Line up, , to get out overall., so yeah, that's the series that , you know, if the Rays are able to take two of three from the guardians, that will tell me a lot about where they are right now. Cause you can go through a series with the Mariners and you, you win two out of three, you're like, yeah, okay, that's good.

[00:33:03] Mat Germain: I'm encouraged. But it doesn't really tell me where the race then, because I know the Mariners have issues. They have lineup issues. They, they, you know, they still have a pen that that can be up and down once in a while., Whereas the guardians, I look at their roster and I'm like, Oh, that's a, that's a world series contending roster to me.

[00:33:22] Mat Germain: And the way they're playing in the first half anyway. 

[00:33:26] Mark Corbett: And you mentioned John Carlo with the Yankees. I'm going to jump back for a second there.  he,  he got entered this week. I'm not sure, but he, he took an injury. so I just saw a headline saying one Yankee player said, finally it's a little, little harsh.

[00:33:44] Mark Corbett: Yeah. Little horse. There's no love between those teams. Gosh, who'd have guessed that? But yeah, we'll see. All righty. What else, brother? 

[00:33:54] Mat Germain: There's another thing I wanted to mention. The Montgomery Biscuits are going to be in the playoffs at the end of the year. They clinched after winning their division in the first half.

[00:34:05] Mat Germain:, and there's been promotions going on, like through the, through the RAISE system. So a lot of guys are coming back from injury. Jacob, we'll call him Jake, Jake, Jake Wag (Waguespak) is back in the FCL on the, on a rehab assignment. He looked great.  he struck out. Three in his 1. 1 innings of work, you know, first time out, Jeffrey springs has continued to look strong in, in triple a.

[00:34:31] Mat Germain:, so the Rays are starting to, to have more momentum going through the minors and more guys pushing their promotions up. Trevor Martin was pushed up to double a. So, that that's a big sign that that's a sign that. Things are, things are happening. They're clearing room because the draft is coming up and they know that they have to, to move guys along before they, they, they're willing to kind of make some of the trades happen that I'm sure are around the corner.

[00:35:05] Mark Corbett: Yeah. And as long as you're talking about around the corner, I believe today, Is the deadline for phase one, or maybe it's tomorrow phase one of the voting for the all star tech team. So if you've got a player today may have been it. And then tomorrow phase two starts up. So if you haven't voted for Yankee DHS, make sure you do.

[00:35:29] Mark Corbett: So we'll see how that plays out tomorrow. 

[00:35:32] Mat Germain: I saw somebody vote Vladdy Guerrero jr. And, but only if he wears the Yankee uniforms.

[00:35:41] Mat Germain: Oh, I don't know if it's because I'm in Canada, but the, the websites here are saying, the Guerrero jr has softened his stance on potentially joining the, the Yankees. And the rumor is that he'd be a perfect fit there because of how lackluster the production has been at first base. Like what is it going to take for them to put Aaron judge at first base?

[00:36:03] Mat Germain: The guy's got a, you know, The torn toe,  that's going to, he's going to have to live with forever. Like just put Aaron judge there. He's got a reach. He's giving you like an extra foot and a half of getting the ball to the mitt. Why wouldn't you do that? It doesn't make any sense. But, yeah, I guess the, the, if Jason Dominguez was, was tearing the door down to get in there, but he got hurt recently,  that would be what would push him to do that.

[00:36:28] Mat Germain: But yeah, the Guerrero jr. To the Yankees rumors. I just don't see how as a Jays GM, you would survive. That trade, you just would not, that would be a career ender for you. So if, if they do end up making that trade,  it means that they're also getting rid of the GM. 

[00:36:48] Mark Corbett:  you hire Chaim Bloom, you know, come in and take care of that.

[00:36:53] Mark Corbett: Oh, that's, that's low.

[00:36:59] Mark Corbett: I mean, think about it for, I fell for that poor. So when he first took that gig at Boston and you know, the right out of it, Oh, by the way, this guy, Mookie Betts, we'd really like you to move this big number off of our, 

[00:37:12] Mat Germain: you know, who had the same kind of plight, Mark, Alex Anthopoulos got into the Toronto and he was forced at Roy Halladay demanded a trade that was the first trade that Alex Anthopoulos ever made as GM.

[00:37:25] Mark Corbett: Ooh, 

[00:37:26] Mat Germain: Roy Halliday to the Phillies for Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Drabek and oh, who was the Michael Taylor? Those were the three pieces that he got from, from the Phillies and he survived that. You know, there's a way to do it. You have to follow it up with a bunch of moves and then be strong, you know, gas to the pedal and be brave.

[00:37:48] Mat Germain:  the problem with, with Hein Blum is he never was able to articulate things the way that Alex Anthopoulos can. That's, that's the weakness of Haim Bloom. He, he might have had a vision. I can't even confirm that he had one or not, but he never let people know what that vision was. Alex did. And when they tried to take control of it away from him, saying, no, no, no, we're going to put oversight, you know, above you, and prevent you from doing all the things that you want to, because we want a strong prosecutor.

[00:38:18] Mat Germain: Back system because that's so dear and near to us when in reality, they've never, ever, ever, ever, ever in a history of major league baseball had a strong prospect system. So I don't even know where that comes from. But, Yeah. When, when they let him go because of that, I was just like, okay, but Heinblum was put in an impossible position.

[00:38:41] Mat Germain: You're completely right. I just think that you have to look at it as an opportunity to outperform expectations and he never got close to doing that. So I don't think he was giving enough of a leash to be quite honest. He was making some changes that might've paid off., but he never articulated any of it.

[00:39:01] Mat Germain: Like I said, 

[00:39:02] Mark Corbett: No, and like I said, I don't think the framework that he entered was going to give him the opportunity to do that either. So that's why I feel for that man. I truly do. But you talk about Alex Anthopoulos and my gosh, man, that, that guy has been a genius as far as I'm concerned when it comes to baseball, everything he did, you know, like with, with the Braves and everything else he was involved with, just looking over everything that he's achieved over the years.

[00:39:26] Mark Corbett: It's just been stunning to me. I, I keep waiting until one day he's going to put out an autobiography, I guess, probably another 10, 15 years. And if I'm around, I'll read it. 

[00:39:36] Mat Germain: Absolutely. Started with the expos and worked his way up all the way through. I still find. You know, the loyalty he shows to certain players, and people won't really see it, but like, when he was in Atlanta, he brought back a Danny Hecaverria, which is a guy that he signed as an international, free agent when he was with the Blue Jays.

[00:39:55] Mat Germain: He brought in Kevin Pillar. He brought in a whole bunch of guys. That he knew well and had faith in performing to a certain level Ryan goins was another guy that he brought in for a bit in atlanta., there's just a a lot of loyalty to him and when you talk to people that have interacted with them nothing but gushing rave reviews which is why  The Jays sort of panicked when he was leaving.

[00:40:22] Mat Germain: They sort of tried to get, you know, to pad the wallet a little bit to kind of keep him around., but ultimately,  he knew the writing was on the wall of what he was going to be able to do. And he wanted to be able to do more. And for people to respect what he had done.  people, like, sometimes franchises don't look at the whole big picture.

[00:40:43] Mat Germain: So here you had a a team For 12 for 10 or 12 years. I can't remember the exact number under jp ricciardi had been a lame duck They basically every year they had one or two decent prospects to talk about Every year they had a mediocre record somewhere between 78 and 85 wins and every year is the same story.

[00:41:05] Mat Germain: They went home. They they would just It got to be mind numbing and repetitive and just predictable. And everything that was done was, wasn't really well thought through. And here you have a guy comes in and because of that, the attendance fell to like under 2 million a year. Here you have a guy that comes in, you know,  it was 1.

[00:41:25] Mat Germain: 4 million a year. That Alex Anthopoulos came in and he packs the stands, he gets them into the playoffs, you know, there's 2, 3. 2 or 3. 3 million people in the stands the year that they went into the playoffs or the year after, I can't remember which, but he's got the team excited, he's got them invigorated, they love it, Toronto's on a roll, and then they say, yeah, you're doing so well, we're going to give you a new boss, and you're going to have to it.

[00:41:54] Mat Germain: What are you talking about? How does that compute? It doesn't make sense. But that's what happens when your, your franchise is run by a corporation who's not really looking at it from a baseball perspective. If that had been, you know,, an owner that respects how hard it is to accomplish that. Then they would have rewarded him with a new contract offered that was even more, with more freedom than what he had to that point.

[00:42:24] Mat Germain: Instead, they listened to the masses who were saying, Oh, he's getting there because he's trading all the prospects. And suddenly everybody turns on him and says, Oh, well then he needs oversight. We need to protect our prospects, right? Yeah. Nobody looks at the 3. 3 million in the stands and go, Hey, guess what?

[00:42:40] Mat Germain: It's worth it. You know? I don't know. I don't understand that whole situation. And that honestly, that's what turned me off from ever, ever, ever covering the blue Jays that moment in that point in time was when I said, the hell with this, if they can't see the value in Alex and thoughtless, why am I cheering for that franchise?

[00:43:00] Mat Germain: It doesn't make any sense. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I got a rabbit hole, 

[00:43:06] Mark Corbett: Mark. You got me down the rabbit hole. I'm sorry. I'm glad you did. Cause I mean, it tells a story that method. We don't always talk about and that's how much that front office is any front office is really impacting what happens with the fans It's impacting and sometimes they have the foresight and sometimes they don't sometimes you figure they're rolling dice on this stuff It's just Maddening.

[00:43:28] Mark Corbett: You know, I,  my mind go way back in history. Now, what was it? Babe Ruth, he got traded so an owner could put money up into a Broadway show. You know, it's sometimes  it's that kind of mentality still going on today. Not that somebody's putting up a Broadway show, but I don't think you have necessarily the mindset that people have to have in a business like baseball.

[00:43:51] Mark Corbett: And Where you're still enjoying the game where you're recognizing the, the return value of those 3 million fans that you have in the stands, how many more jerseys are going to be bought? I can't believe I haven't found it yet. I see there's different club universities offer sports business, but I'd like to see where somebody gets granular.

[00:44:13] Mark Corbett: And what happens in those front offices to make the system work, 

[00:44:18] Mat Germain: right? That's that would be interesting. 

[00:44:22] Mark Corbett: Well, 

[00:44:22] Mat Germain:  if you would go into any franchise. front office, whether it's football, basketball, hockey, baseball, MLS, every single front office is different because the people in there Mater so much in how the tone is set and how the culture is.

[00:44:48] Mat Germain: And you go into the St. Louis Cardinals front office, it's a completely different world than if you go into the Marlins front office, right?, So,  it's a, in a lot of ways, it's a reflection on the owner. And this is why I've been an advocate of what Stu Sternberg does in Tampa, because the, the reflection to me is that everybody wants what he's able to build with his front office and his staff.

[00:45:16] Mat Germain: So that that's just a telltale sign that you're doing something extremely right., and also that the fact that nobody, nobody is, is screaming to get,, to get out, they're just being. Poached quite literally, you know, because of the system that you have and the mentality you have and the, the dedication to winning and the success to prove it.

[00:45:41] Mat Germain:, so I, I also think, you know, if there's somebody that mentioned, um. Why haven't the Texas Rangers had a Pride Night? Right? So you look at how the culture is in Tampa and, and it's not, you know, I wouldn't say, I wouldn't call it exactly LGBTQ plus,, friendly to the max in Florida, overall, right?

[00:46:07] Mat Germain: There's been issues in terms of, of people in bars getting attacked, et cetera., So for for Stu Sternberg and the Rays to stand up and be for that cause and other causes, there's plenty more to point out as well,, also reflects on the the culture within that organization. So when the Rangers don't have that, not only does it Point to the fact that it's a weakness of theirs.

[00:46:31] Mat Germain:, but it's also, you know, says what kind of environment you're walking into when you go to that organization. Are you welcome if you are from that group?, who knows? Will they stand up for you? If somebody, you know, does things in your, in your realm that is discriminatory, probably not. We saw that there was an organization that the Blackhawks had a bunch of issues like that in hockey.

[00:46:56] Mat Germain: Where their front office wasn't standing up for people that were doing misogynistic things. And, I don't want to go too deep into it, but, you know, every franchise is different and sets the tone.  ownership has more impact on the success of a franchise than we think. Robert Kraft with the Patriots is a great example of an owner that, you know, built it right.

[00:47:16] Mat Germain: You know, the first time around, he's had troubles recently. But, you know, you look at sometimes you have owners that are so invested, like in the Cowboys, for instance, where you just wishing that they would get out of the way or Artie Moreno with the angels, etc. So you've got so many casts of characters that you could point at and go, Oh, like, I can only imagine.

[00:47:40] Mat Germain: I can only imagine, right? 

[00:47:42] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I mean, it's 

[00:47:43] Mat Germain: part of the fun. 

[00:47:45] Mark Corbett: You know, it is, it, you know, there's no doubt in the past really poked a lot at Stu, but it's what, what he's done with the front office, you know, with him and Eric Neander being there is just been fantastic and whatever you may think about having a stadium built here,  that he is taking it seriously for this area.

[00:48:05] Mark Corbett: For a while,  there was a lot of questions about just trying to maneuver one place or another to, to get a better bid. Yeah. But it's some of that's business, like I get that all in all,  he's done a lot to positive moves for the raise and certainly the community. 

[00:48:21] Mat Germain: Let me ask you this, Mark, how long do you think he remains raise owner?

[00:48:26] Mat Germain: Assuming it gets built, let's say shovels go in the ground. The stadium opens 2028. How many years afterwards will he maintain that franchise as his? 

[00:48:37] Mark Corbett: I want to say 10, but  it could be five. 

[00:48:40] Mat Germain: Yeah,  that's about accurate. I don't know that you can sit, I mean, you can, I don't know what his, what his children's ambitions are, right?

[00:48:49] Mat Germain: So he might be looking at it as something that he can pass on to them. I have no idea what his relationship is like with them, but,, And if their interest is high enough, but if you were to ask the Steinbrenner situation, the same kind of thing way back when, right? Yeah, the Yankees were not well valued or well thought of when George took him over.

[00:49:10] Mat Germain:, they weren't as miraculously winning every year as, as, as, They got to be so, you know, you, you might've said the same thing about George at the time. The truth is that once he builds that stadium, assuming a lot of the traffic woes get solved. Right. And that they're able to maintain a crowd of 20 plus thousand per night on average, you know, the up years down years kind of averaged out.

[00:49:36] Mat Germain: Right.  you're going to see a franchise that's in the top 15 in terms of value by the end of it, because of the TV contracts and the population growth in the area and the potential that it has. A lot of players and managers and everybody else, they live their off seasons in Florida or in Arizona.

[00:49:55] Mat Germain: And so, you know, you're in a prime state. space to build perennial winners. so if they're able to continue doing what they're doing, there's no reason why they can't be one of the more successful franchises for the next 20 or 30 years. Why would you sell that?  there's a chance that it stays in his family for quite a while.

[00:50:15] Mark Corbett: I hope that's the case. I really do. Because. A sense of continuity and a sense of local ownership, if you will. You know, that's, that's something that would be in place at that point. I mean, obviously Stu,  he's didn't start out here, but  he's definitely become part of it and of the community that's, that's important.

[00:50:35] Mark Corbett: And, and like you're saying, embracing things like the LGBTQ is been important. That's, they've done that for a while. I mean, he went up as working there years ago. It is a fan host. You know, we had pride, we had pride night or pride week, whatever that they had that. And, and you go into St. Pete downtown, you get a sense of, there's a lot of support for that community as well.

[00:50:58] Mark Corbett: So going back to the stew. Yeah. I would like to see his family perpetuate with the race for years to come. 

[00:51:07] Mat Germain: Yep. I agree. I agree wholeheartedly. 

[00:51:11] Mark Corbett: All right, brother, you got any other goodies you want to share today? 

[00:51:15] Mat Germain:, let's see. Curtis Meade hit his eighth home run of the season tonight, so he's been one of the more hot players, for the Rays down in AAA.

[00:51:26] Mat Germain:, I know Johnny DeLuca's struggling mightily in June. He's almost a ghost of himself. Defensively, he's doing fine. So, I mean, it's not like a burning thing and the lineups doing well enough that they can, they can wait it out a little bit., because I'm not sure exactly how Curtis Meade would be used if he was called back up, but if the toe issue lingers for, for Brendan Lau or another injury pops up, which seems to be happening, then, I wouldn't be surprised to see Curtis Meade back with the raise or, you know, You know, there's still a chance that he ends up getting dealt at some point, but,, he's doing really well.

[00:52:02] Mat Germain: He's looking like the power's coming through. And  the raise really wanted to see that while he was down there. So that's all I got. All 

[00:52:09] Mark Corbett: right. Well, thanks for sharing that brother and see what the future holds. So. Trying to think, like I said, just remember, folks, you get to phase two voting. I believe that starts tomorrow for the, all star game.

[00:52:23] Mark Corbett: So get ready, get your pen sharpened, and get your pen sharpened, get your pencils sharpened. It's been a rough day. I try, 

[00:52:31] Mat Germain: Mark. I try and sharpen. It just stops working every time. 

[00:52:36] Mark Corbett: We can just get the laptops working. That'd be good enough. Yeah. All right. Thanks again, man. It's been a great once again, talking about our lovely raise here on baseball biz on deck and just send another raise up chant out to everybody listening here today, just reminding you guys, you can always find us here.

[00:52:56] Mark Corbett: You can find us on Spotify, I heart radio, Apple. Heck, and of course, did I forget to mention baseball biz on deck. com. So Mat, you ready for this week? You ready to start something new? Ready for those nationals. 

[00:53:10] Mat Germain: I'm ready to get above 500 and stay there. That's, that's what I'm ready for. I I'm sick of getting back underneath this whole, you know, doing the dolphin around 500 Mark.

[00:53:20] Mat Germain: Let's get above it. That's like one of those Rays skyrocketing out of the water and hopefully staying out of the water longer than they do. 

[00:53:31] Mark Corbett: I'm with you, man. So we'll leave you all with a big praise up until next week. Thanks again everybody for joining us and we'll talk with you again real soon.

[00:53:44] Mark Corbett: Special thanks to XTaKeRuX for the music rocking forward.

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