RaysUp it's All-Star Week, Draft, Home Run Derby & Canadian Baseball v Hockey

• Mat Germain discusses the concentration of baseball greats during All-Star Week and critiques the allocation of All-Star games.
• Rays' All-Star representatives, including a ball boy, Braden Coles & Home Run Hitter, Isaac Paredes

All-Star Game Festivities:

• Mr. and Mrs. Met on the Red Carpet
• Mat highlights the evolving fan engagement activities during All-Star Week, including future stars games, celebrity games, and skills competitions

Home Run Derby 

• Alonso's hardest hit ball, discussing its significance.
• Teoscar Hernandez's performance and career stats.
• Power numbers at Dodger Stadium and Hernandez’s potential.
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s support for Teoscar Hernandez plus Shohei Ohtani shares advice.
• Question - Blue Jays’ decisions on Guerrero Jr., Hernandez, & Lourdes Gurriel.
• Toronto Blue Jays future and the impact of their pitching staff.

Rays' Midseason Performance:

• Tampa Bay Rays successful series against the Cleveland Guardians.
• Rays needs - focusing on catchers and relief pitchers.

Rays' Draft Strategy:

• Mat breaks down the Rays' draft picks, highlighting their focus on position players and their strategy.
• Rays drafting Canadian players, including Emilien Petrie, 
• Mat shares insights from the University of Kentucky on Emilien Petrie’s growth and potential.
• Focus on position players for sustainability & the development of pitchers.
• Emilien Pitt and other high potential draftees like Theo Gillian.
• Concerns over Gillian's injuries but high potential if he remains healthy.
• Focus on high ceiling talents despite risk

High School vs. College Draft Picks:

• High school draftees have access to professional training earlier
• Risk of injuries remains a concern for young draftees

  Successful Draft Picks from High Schools:

• Plant High School (Pete Alonso, Kyle Tucker).
• High schools like Westlake producing multiple high-level draftees.

  Synergy & Confidence in Player Development:

• Teams and players feeding off each other's success.
• Confidence and mental strength play a crucial role in player performance.
• Role of faith and belief systems in maintaining player confidence.

  All-Star Game and Potential Changes:

• Discussion on the All-Star game, its importance, and the risks of injury.
• Suggestion to potentially move the All-Star game to the end of the season.
• Benefits of combining the All-Star game with Hall of Fame inductions.

  Rob Manfred Draft Announcements

• Rob Manfred faces boos from the crowd during player announcements
• Comparison to other sports commissioners like Gary Bettman
• We should have had Taylor Swift announce the draftees

  Celebrity Influence in Baseball:

• Discussion on increasing the appeal of baseball through celebrity involvement.
• Examples of how other sports leverage celebrities to draw attention
  
  
• Limited Baseball Season for Canadians:
• Canadian players have limited opportunities to play baseball compared to Americans.
• Short season in Canada necessitates traveling or playing other sports.
• Example: Larry Walker had minimal baseball experience before being trained professionally. 
• All-Star Game and Hall of Fame Induction:
  Mat Germain believes the Hall of Fame induction should be tied to the All-Star Game, either just before or after, to create a more significant event where fans can interact with baseball greats.
• Potential Change for the All-Star Game Timing:
• Mat suggests moving the All-Star Game to th

Transcript

245 MLB All-Star Week BaseballBiz

[00:00:00] Mat Germain: You're, you're combining all of the greats in one place and, and setting the tone for their careers and saying, you know what, the draft is here, your, your hall of fame induction could be here. They don't need to spread the all star game. And to be quite frank, like, it's not fair the way that they spread the all star game around anyway.

[00:00:21] Mark Corbett: Yeah.  I don't, people keep saying, well, when's Tampa, Tampa going to get the all star game? Hey folks, this is Matand I, we're just chatting about all star week. And I know you're having fun with it too, but, uh, we, we certainly hear a baseball biz on deck. That's Mr. MatGermain, I'm Mark Corbett.

[00:00:41] Mark Corbett: And it, it, to me, it's always one of the most interesting and awkward weeks of the year to me. Uh, but. So we, we haven't had one in Tampa, but as I pointed out in a couple of weeks ago, there was actually one in Tampa back in the 1920s, uh, they're supporting a war effort. But anyway, that's neither here nor there.

[00:01:01] Mark Corbett: So Matt. Oh, gosh, brother, it, I know what we just had one fella, actually, it was two guys coming for the race. There's a sock for Eddie's and I think it was branded coach. Is that his name? So those are the two cats we got coming. One's a ball boy, ball boy, and another one is a home run hitter. And we'll leave that, we'll leave that to you all to figure out which is which, but

[00:01:37] Mark Corbett: no, I mean, I was looking forward to seeing some of these folks walk down there,  the red carpet. Yeah, 

[00:01:43] Mat Germain: well, Mr. Met even went down the red carpet like that. And he brought Mrs. Met with him. So, uh, that's always a fun time. I think all the pleasantries that go around with the all star game and the way that they're ramping up.

[00:01:57] Mat Germain: Um,  the, the opportunities for fans to just enjoy the love of the game is improving, right? Whether it's the future stars, whether it's the fun,  um, celebrity game. Uh, all the different skills competitions that they're growing over time, and I'm sure they'll improve. They'll add more. All those things do a great job of promoting the game as a whole.

[00:02:22] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I mean, getting people engaged, I guess, even that celebrity softball game may actually attract some folks. I mean, I looked at who were playing on both teams, and I think I maybe knew, oh, maybe 20 percent of the folks on there. Uh, personalized like Bobby bones from radio. He was on there, but, uh, I was more involved and interested myself in watching the home run derby and man, oh man, oh man.

[00:02:46] Mark Corbett:  I want to see Pete Alonso do well,  I mean, look at Tampa hometown boy, wanted to see him do well. He's won it twice before, but that wasn't to be this time around. Well, he 

[00:02:57] Mat Germain: hit 

[00:02:57] Mark Corbett: the 

[00:02:57] Mat Germain: hardest ball of them all. So if that counts, 

[00:03:01] Mark Corbett: it certainly does. It certainly does. That, that record counts for something.

[00:03:06] Mark Corbett: And, and as far as the Oscar Hernandez, I love this man. I'm thinking, well, I was looking at his record. This is always fun to me anyway, seeing,  how well a player has done, uh, on their own team and to Oscar over the years, if you take what he's done in a regular season for home runs,  he's, he's been, he's been done well.

[00:03:29] Mark Corbett: I mean, uh, 2018 he had what he played 134 games. Let's see. He had 22 home runs. Is that right? Yeah. And wow. 2021. Playing for Toronto and played, what is it, 143 games and had 32 home runs. This, now what's he at this year? Let's see, 19. 19. Home runs 

[00:03:56] Mat Germain: and he's, he's in a,  I don't know how the Dodger stadium works in terms of the friendliness to home runs in general, but it seems to have quite a few guys that end up with decent power numbers out of that.

[00:04:13] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I mean, it's just a little past the halfway mark. Of the season and 19,  if you took that and said, well, is that going to be 38? Wow. That would be well, even if he gets 35, that would be huge. It would top his 32 record in 2021. With Toronto and let's see with, uh, I mean, and being with the Dodgers, what was kind of neat, I thought was during the game, Matt, him getting advice from some others as well.

[00:04:44] Mat Germain: Yeah, Vladdy Guerrero Jr. giving him all the love. And I think it was a little bit of a salt in the wounds for the Jays who need that kind of power. Oh, yeah. Seeing Vladdy,  kind of. I think when they dealt away Lourdes Goriel and they didn't bring back Teoscar Hernandez, those are two big mistakes because of the camaraderie they had on that team.

[00:05:07] Mat Germain: They had just added all the pitching. I still don't understand why they let that break up. But you could see Vladdy excited for Teoscar and giving him all the love he could on the sidelines. It was fun to see. And uh, I think you, you want to look past this all star game and see how the guys do afterwards, because we all know about the jinx that comes along with participating in this.

[00:05:29] Mat Germain: But I think Bobby Wood Jr. gave him a pretty good run for his money for a young guy. 

[00:05:35] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I mean, and there is so much future to Bobby Wood Jr. What we're going to see there. It's exciting. Uh, pardon me. Yeah,  I was looking to see what Otani giving some advice to T. Oscar as well. So I thought that was pretty cool because you get, you get somebody,  like Vladdy, his old teammate who's still has a quite a bit of affection for him as a friend.

[00:05:58] Mark Corbett: And then you see Otani,  side by side with this guy, I got to tell you the last couple of years. See Tasker Hernandez anywhere, but with Toronto was just odd. I mean, let's face it, he was with Toronto from 2017 to 2022. He, you may not call him a franchise player, like, uh, like was it, uh, Luis Ramirez?

[00:06:19] Mark Corbett: Who? No, no. Who is it, what's Ramirez? His first name? I can't think of him for life. I mean, was the Guardians? 

[00:06:23] Mat Germain: Hmm. 

[00:06:25] Mark Corbett: Jose. So Jose? Yeah. Jose Ramirez. Thank you. Jose Ramirez. I mean, he is a franchise name and t Oscar to, in, in part was, I mean, for as many years since he was there, but, uh. It hurts when you see those guys moved or go someplace else.

[00:06:41] Mark Corbett: How, how do you think the Blue Jays outbid the Dodgers for Vladdy Jr? I don't even know. I can't, only thing I think, was he born in Canada? He was born in 

[00:06:52] Mat Germain: Montreal, but he, he does play internationally for the Dominican, uh, is it for the Dominican or? I believe 

[00:06:59] Mark Corbett: so. I believe it's DR, yeah. 

[00:07:01] Mat Germain: The Cuba Cuban team,  would allow it because of the whole defection thing and yet it doesn't even make sense that he plays for the Dominican to be quite honest.

[00:07:10] Mark Corbett: Yeah, 

[00:07:11] Mat Germain: I don't think he's ever lived there. I don't know. Maybe he spends his off seasons there, but he does speak Spanish. So, um, maybe him and his dad spent most of their time there when when they weren't playing. So, um, I, I don't know, I, I look at it and I say,  the, the Jays are talking about being able to, uh, To compete in 2025 that they're only really going to trade their rentals.

[00:07:35] Mat Germain: I think that's a serious, serious, serious mistake or we look at the J situation and the more they're pitching is likely to break down in quick order because they're, they're leading pitchers are not young, uh, Gossman, um, even burritos isn't very young. I mean, he's not, he's solid. Uh, and, um, yeah. Bassett is, is not young either.

[00:07:58] Mat Germain: He's going to be 36 next year. I mean, there's a lot of miles on that arm. Um, he needs the whole basket to, to make it work. So, uh, I, I just think they're, they're not in a position depth wise with what they have in triple eight is kind of bet on it. Right. It's sort of like trying to roll snake eyes at the, uh, at the roulette table or at the craps table.

[00:08:21] Mat Germain: So I don't know. We'll see, but the all star game has been great overall. I have no qualms about it yet. The, the, the competition has been fun. The whole attitude has been fun. And, um, I think people are buying into this whole weekend. 

[00:08:38] Mark Corbett: Well, I wish I was there. That's for sure. And I wish they'd bring it to Tampa.

[00:08:43] Mark Corbett: I mean, we were fortunate enough a few years back. Having the Superbowl here in the whole week and a half or whatever, before that,  have like a little small city that they put down there and all the events and you can come in and participate with. And I think that would be fantastic to be with,  MLB's version of that this week.

[00:09:01] Mark Corbett: So anyway. But, uh, oh man, let's see, what else we got here? Well, with the Rays, they, they continue on with the float party out there in Tampa Bay, floating right around the old number 500 and up and down and up and down and up and down, but  we, we had a good run there with the, with the Cleveland Guardians actually thought we did much better, uh, low scoring games, but did pretty well pulling two of the three.

[00:09:30] Mat Germain: Yeah, I think we're like the Rays only lost one of their last six series So when you look at that and the lead up to the all star game It shows that they're headed in the right directionJeffrey springs had a bit of a lackluster last outing in triple a so I think he still needs a bit more time down there to before he's an option But I, I think that the trade deadline is going to be so interesting because there's so many different directions they could go.

[00:09:59] Mat Germain: I think it'll be dependent on how desperate teams.  kind of are willing to play ball with the Rays and then what the Rays are actually looking for. But I think you could make a strong case for them to upgrade one of the two catchers, possibly upgrade the relief pitching, um, aspect just with a back end guy who can actually pitch in a cold weather, not like Pete Fairbanks, um, because that's always going to be a question mark if they do scratch their way into the, uh, the post season.

[00:10:31] Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

[00:10:33] Mat Germain: But when we're looking at the drafted guys that they're bringing in this year, I think when you put all the position players together that they drafted, it puts together an entire team. So they've got every position covered. They've got 3 outfielders. They got a utility player. They got the entire infield, including catching position covered.

[00:10:52] Mat Germain: So it's interesting to see how they drafted this year. They continued their streak of actually front loading the hitters. Um, they've also,  stayed up the middle with those first four picks. So you had a, uh, a center fielder, a second baseman, a shortstop, and a catcher in order. So you've covered all your, your up the middle talents with, with guys that I'm so intrigued in, sorry, intrigued with Theo and with Petrie.

[00:11:24] Mat Germain: Uh, both of those guys are, they're just, they're guys that you can envision. Um, Doing extremely well wherever you put them and that you know I don't want to say they're going to be fast movers Maybe petrie could be because he's a little bit more polished Theo i've just heard over and over and over again how mature he is for his age and how Everybody who talks to him feels like they've just spoken to a college player And that speaks volumes about his character and his his makeup Um, so I don't know where they're going to start off You I mean,  they'll get a taste in the FCL and then we'll see where they go after that.

[00:12:01] Mat Germain: Um, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Petrie,  get moved up to A plus even to start. And, um, and Theo to spend a long time for the rest of the season in A ball. Uh, because he does need to catch up a little bit and get more playing time. Another intriguing part is that they drafted three Canadians.

[00:12:19] Mat Germain: And who knew? Who knew that the Rays were so enthralled with my Canadian,  people that, that they would actually draft three of them, including two in the top 10. Like that's just, it's unheard of. And, uh, it's nice to see, uh, it's nice to see them spread the love and, and steal Canadians from the Jays.

[00:12:42] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I was, I was glad to see that too.  it was a Petrie. Is that a proper pronunciation of his name? A million Petrie. 

[00:12:49] Mat Germain: Correct me. Yeah. French is a little bit odd. So you can't really translate. It's like me when I, when I speak to people, I say, my name is Matt. I don't, I don't say Mets here, which is really my name.

[00:13:05] Mat Germain: Um, but yeah, 

[00:13:06] Mark Corbett: it would be Pete. Okay. So million pit. Well, I,  I'm singing for Quebec to Kentucky. I was like, Oh. Well,  it's curious because the young man, I mean, I think that French was,  was his primary language, obviously, because that's where he grew up, but that's where, that's when you speak when you're there.

[00:13:30] Mark Corbett: And he said, uh, let's see, I'm reading here. One thing I said, we're thrilled to take,  Petrie on, I'm just calling Matt. So until somebody else can correct me, Ray's amateur sky director, Chuck Reese said, I think he's another guy with really good contact skills and the power kind of emerged this year.

[00:13:48] Mark Corbett: He's a very, very self made player. I think he showed up at Kentucky, probably wasn't ready to play that level and just worked really hard at his English and his body and his game. And where he's come in that amount of time. It's just so impressive. Yeah. 

[00:14:02] Mat Germain: University of Kentucky got in touch with me and told me that they, the Rays were getting such a class a player, like just a overall, they, I don't know, like they, they really, really, really seem to be high on, on his, uh, his makeup and, and the amount of, uh, improvements he made.

[00:14:19] Mat Germain: All year long. Um, I also wanted to note like the, the thing when I looked through all of his stats, because Canadians,  we don't get to play as much baseball as, as Americans do. Our season is extremely short. So you've got to go away to do,  the things you need to do. Or you play other sports and you hope that the tools end up being loud enough for people to pick you up.

[00:14:42] Mat Germain: Like Larry Walker, for instance, barely played any baseball before he was, uh, he was taken in and sort of shown how to, how to play the ball really from scratch. But in Petrie's case, or in Emilien Pitt, His isolated power jumped from 0. 094 in 223 at bats to 0. 209, so it went up 113 points year over year, and that just speaks to,  When you're looking at that, and then you look at the rest of it, right?

[00:15:17] Mat Germain: Strikeouts, walks, everything else. Did anything else change? Was he over swinging? No, he wasn't. His strikeouts actually only went up by one. Uh, and I mean, he had more at bats as well. So you could say they actually went down. And his walk rate went up by five. And so, it's extremely intriguing to me. It almost has the same profile as Edward Julian, who's, uh, with, uh, with the twins, but with Uh, better defense.

[00:15:48] Mat Germain: So that to me is what's really intriguing about him. He could have the same upside as Edward Julian, but the actual, uh, actually a tweeyviable second baseman that can be an everyday guy. So, I think,  when we look at the future of 2nd base with the Rays, there's lots of options. Brayden Taylor, uh, Cooper Kinney, a whole bunch of infielders that may need to shift around based on,  the flavor of the day.

[00:16:15] Mat Germain: But I think the Rays really added a quality guy in the Indian pit. 

[00:16:19] Mark Corbett: Well, I'm looking forward to seeing him and I mean, I was just for grins and giggles, man. I was trying to say, to see what was it like that we even did last year. And last year we had a lot of pitchers and  so I was glad to see somebody like Mr.

[00:16:36] Mark Corbett: Pitt and, and coming, coming on. But cause I thought, are we going to be,  pitching heavy? Uh, but it didn't seem like that was going to be the case this year. 

[00:16:47] Mat Germain: So I think there's There was an adjustment year and I think that was last year because they closed down the appalachian league And and so there was an amalgamation of talents at the a level And so now the Rays are sort of holding back the dsl guys a little bit longer and being pickier About who they do bring up to the fcl because there's limited playing time in rookie ball now Uh, and and whoever does make it in then gets Pushed ahead to a ball pretty quickly once the draft happens because they want to take a look at everyone, get them sorted out and then, um, get them on their way to, to regular,  full season play.

[00:17:24] Mat Germain: Um, so I'm not surprised there was a lot of pitchers and I also think they knew, um, that they were going to spend a lot of money on the top guys that they did take because they took high ceiling guys. They didn't go cheap. Um, And so this year, I think they're one of the teams that has the most money expected to be left over after the whole thing is said and done, um, because of how it played out.

[00:17:49] Mat Germain: Now, they haven't signed anybody yet, so we don't know. We don't know what the actual ceilings are in terms of money that they plan to dole out. It's all really what people expect. Which may be wrong or maybe right, but I think the overall, their plan is solid. And, and to me, it's sustainable because,  position players play every day.

[00:18:13] Mat Germain: They're, I don't want to say they're more important, but they're also healthier overall and a less risky bet. So you're, you're increasing the floor of your position players by doing it this way, and you're allowing your strength to shine, which is developing pitchers. Um, so it's really a great way to watch the Rays grow over time.

[00:18:36] Mat Germain: They've only come to this conclusion in 2021 after years of trying out different things,  that an interesting 1 is the catcher. They took in this draft,  the, I think it was in the 3rd round, uh, The, they hadn't selected a catcher that high in a while and, and,  we all knew that they'd had some trials and tribulations in terms of trying to get one locked in from Nick Schufo to, uh, uh, Chris Betts to a whole bunch of other investments, Ronaldo Hernandez, they gave him 400k, um, So it's nice to see them get back into that side of things and, and be willing to try another catcher, a young one who has,  I think he's 17 with a lot of upside.

[00:19:21] Mat Germain: So, uh, he's going to get to grow with some of those talents that we're seeing and, and they'll come up together and, uh, have, uh, there, there's no hurry basically to get him up. So he'll get all the development time he needs. But, uh, Fluellen is one that I I've heard rave reviews about in Canada as well. I heard more about him.

[00:19:39] Mat Germain: To be quite honest, before the draft, than Émilie and Petr, even though I knew about Émilie and Petr, um, but I, I think the, the Rays, like I mentioned it on Twitter, uh, X, uh, I'm always going to say Twitter. I don't know when I have, it's going to break, Mark. I'm still saying it, Twitter X. Yeah. But, but the, uh, the, the thing that I noticed in the last two drafts, especially as the Rays are, are really aggressive now.

[00:20:07] Mat Germain: In going for the hit tool not so much tools Remember they used to draft guys like gary whitley And and then guys with a lot more risk when it came to the hit tool developing over time And and when you look back at those drafts not many race hitters were developed to the point where they became major league playersAnd especially everyday players, like there's some, but not very many compared to the investments they put in.

[00:20:32] Mat Germain: So I think when you go after guys like Chandler Simpson, Xavier Isaac, and those kinds of players, you know their hit tool is going to play in the show, or at least we're anticipating that's going to play out. Same thing with Braden Taylor. Um, so again, you're raising the floor. So you're saying this guy will be able to be productive at the MLB level.

[00:20:54] Mat Germain: So,  the, the power and the speed, I don't want to say they're secondary because obviously in Chandler Simpson's case, that would have been the primary reason, but all of them having that plus hit tool to me is very intriguing. And it's kind of a, you combine that with the hitters at the front of the draft while you're getting some of the,  the least risky guys in the draft, then in that case, when you play it out that way, 

[00:21:18] Mark Corbett: well, let me take you down another road here for a moment.

[00:21:21] Mark Corbett: Okay. Because you talked about the catcher being 17 years old,  and then I look at our first pick, Theo Gillian. He's uh, Gillian, uh, he's just graduating, I believe, from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. And believe it or not, there was another player from Westlake High School who was in the initial draft.

[00:21:44] Mark Corbett: He was picked in the 11th pick by the Detroit Tigers. And I keep looking at this, I'm thinking, well, it's real simple to say, MLB draft is nothing like an NFL draft. NFL, you're picked, you're going to be playing on team next year.  here's no farm system or anything like that. The other thing I think, well, if you have a high school player and you're getting him early, you're going to be able to use the, the tools that, that may not be at a collegiate.

[00:22:11] Mark Corbett: You're going to have more professionals around you who may be able to help train them and get them better. And the other, is there, is there less chance of them sustaining an injury? Because one more thing I'll say, and that is when I was looking at Theo Gillen, he's had a few injuries. I mean, nothing significant.

[00:22:31] Mark Corbett: Uh, I think he had a minor groin injury towards labrum and needed some shoulder surgery when he's a sophomore and had a knee injury and is as a junior. So I'm looking at these young bodies. And wondering, is that really the best thing to do is to, is to bring a player in who's at a high school level? Or should we, should we see Heather, at least Juco.

[00:22:52] Mat Germain: So right now, like Brendan Belt spent the entire year at home, right? Cause nobody wants to pay him. The, you can get guys that can hit.  Major League Baseball and play left field and play first base and do it at an average level. Every team can do that. What you're looking for in the draft, especially at the upper portions, is As high above the above the average as you can get.

[00:23:21] Mat Germain: So the Rays, especially when you're, you're not,  really a high spending spending team, you need to go for it. Because if you don't, you're never going to get those players. You're never going to afford them, you're never going to go get them in free agency and so you're never going to be elite. Um, the Rays have been fortunate in that they've been able to target those guys in trade.

[00:23:42] Mat Germain: On occasion, like junior Cameron arrow is a good example. Um, or through the international side of things, uh, but it's not always evident and I appreciate teams that do go for it. And then it's part of why last year, for example, I was screaming for them to get Spencer, Spencer Jones in the 1st round. I didn't know anything about Xavier Isaac.

[00:24:03] Mat Germain: So, and then,  in hindsight, uh, There's a lot of things that play out differently. Um, or,  it's just 1 of those things where I think you'd need to swing for defenses, support your scouting team and what, who the, they decide is the best thing to do. Sealing talent, weigh the risks a little bit, but, but in Theo's case, I think that the torn labrum is significant.

[00:24:33] Mat Germain: It really is because it limits his throwing abilities and shoulders are kind of an unknown for doctors. They think that they can help you fix them. They can strengthen it over time. Luckily he's young. So I think the Rays are banking a lot on that. And that he'll be able to have a,  a good regiment to actually get him through and, and build up that strength back over time.

[00:24:55] Mat Germain: But he's never going to have a gun like Kevin Kiermaier in, in center field. Um, he's going to be more of a, of a Jose Siri type, probably less than that. Arm wise, if he is in center, um, he could still end up in left field if, if the arm doesn't play enough. Um, but I think when you're looking at his tool set in terms of hitting.

[00:25:17] Mat Germain: The best pitching in major league baseball. He has that ability. That's the one, the one that you're banking on and getting him to the show and making him an impact player in your lineup. 

[00:25:32] Mark Corbett: I'm still amazed though, when I look at the number of high school people come here, I mean, and I'm, I'm hoping that you're going to be able to help him,  that I think you'll probably have.

[00:25:41] Mark Corbett: A better chance at staying healthy with a Rays than if he went to most colleges. Um, and going back to the high school thing, who's that? The, uh, Bryce Rainier Rainier. He's drafted 11th by the Detroit. Also from Westlake. So I'm trying to think, man,  do they put something in the water there? What, what is it at this little high school?

[00:26:04] Mark Corbett: Uh, I guess I could say the same thing for around here. We got plant high school, which,  gave us Pete Alonso, Kyle Tucker. And now there's the guy who went to also left from. Plant High School, Jack Caglioni, who's played for the University of Florida. He's going to the Royals and two way player. I mean, you're seeing these young, young players.

[00:26:27] Mark Corbett: Uh, there seems to be Oasis, if you will, of places where they seem to appear. And Westlake seemed to be that this year. Overall for certain high school. So I don't know, man, we'll see. 

[00:26:42] Mat Germain: Yeah. A lot of times the players can feed off of each other as well. Right. And so what was the, uh, the basketball team that, that, uh, had, I had so many pro players, um, come off of it after they won the college, uh, NCAA term.

[00:26:59] Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and no one Duke, who was it? Tag on it. Who was, who was Jordan? It was North Carolina. Maybe it was North Carolina. 

[00:27:12] Mat Germain: I can't remember. I'll, I'll remember it for the next time, but they had a, an all star team and they fed it off each other so much. And they had that synergy that just. It made it, you know a really perfect team.

[00:27:24] Mat Germain: So yeah, it's like when you see the lineups really really chugging It's sometimes it elevates every player's game to that level and uh, you just hope it continues afterwards and let's face it Baseball is a lot about confidence, right? That's why so many of them lean on religion because they need They need that confidence that they're going to get a hit at some point in time when you're over 33 Six.

[00:27:48] Mat Germain: And then,  the crowd's getting you booish and, uh, and you're tightening your grip on the bat. You need that belief system. And so. When, when you can have that among your teammates as well, and it lowers the pressure, lets you perform. That's a, that's a huge piece. Yeah, 

[00:28:06] Mark Corbett: there's no doubt. There's no doubt.

[00:28:08] Mark Corbett: I mean, and I believe faith is, uh, it's a strong hold for a lot of players. There's no doubt. It's,  something that can give them a little bit more spine and backbone, something they could set their feet on the ground and feel firm with it. There's, there's something there. There's no doubt. Now looking at the actual rollout of all these players, the architecture of the event of Rob Manford coming out and announcing each, each team and who they have chosen to be drafted.

[00:28:43] Mark Corbett: My gosh, it's just, it's just tickles me. Okay. How about you? 

[00:28:51] Mat Germain: Me, me, me, me, me, me, Roger Goodell does the same thing, right? It's their time to shine, I guess. 

[00:28:57] Mark Corbett: Yeah. But, but the part, sad part for Manfred is, I don't know if you heard it that way, but it seemed like every time he stepped out, all I heard was boos,  it's like, He poor son of a gun.

[00:29:09] Mark Corbett: Oh, man, 

[00:29:10] Mat Germain: I think they are paid enough Mark to take all those boos, bottle them up and, and,  for every boos, they can burn a hundred dollars and they'd still be billionaires. So, I think Gary Bettman would get the biggest boos of them all. And he still goes home happy. 

[00:29:30] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I would, I would imagine.

[00:29:33] Mark Corbett: So, and. I caught part of, I think when they were announcing one of the Astros, I didn't watch all of it, but one of the Astro picks that the boos even increased even more. So I thought, geez, we're not going to forgive them for a while, are we? 

[00:29:45] Mat Germain: Yeah. Imagine if the NFL allowed, uh,  Everybody to choose who they announced, um, and Taylor Swift came out to announce the pick for the Kansas City Chiefs, right?

[00:29:58] Mat Germain: But what would the crowd be like then? And then I was going to say the same thing for the, uh, the celebrity game, you know. What we need to do is get those baseball players to have more, uh,  prominent wives and girlfriends so that they can take part and bring their friends along. That's right.

[00:30:16] Mat Germain: Advertise and draw into the game when you wouldn't have any problems selling tickets then. 

[00:30:21] Mark Corbett: Well, they did have some really fantastic softball players. Out there, but all in all, yeah. Um, I mean, I saw,  I looked down the list, influencer, influencer. I said, they're not influenced me because I don't know who they are.

[00:30:39] Mat Germain: The demographic, uh, of, of baseball right now, maybe they're hoping it will be. 

[00:30:45] Mark Corbett: Well,  exactly. I, and I don't expect to see,  George Clooney out there and Julia Roberts, uh, that's more my generation.

[00:30:57] Mark Corbett: Oh, so what are you looking forward to for the rest of the all star week? 

[00:31:01] Mat Germain: Um, the all star game. I think,  to me, I, I used to say, like I told you before we started today, I, I wish that the hall of fame induction was part of it. I think it would be the greatest thing to have it either right before the all star game or right after the all star game.

[00:31:18] Mat Germain: Like,  the day before the day after. Uh, just because I think you, you would rub shoulders with greatness and have everything in one place. Um, but I think the, the All Star game itself, I, the only thing I'm ever doing is, is crossing my fingers and toes that nobody gets hurt and that, uh, And that they can actually put on the show that the fans can say they paid,  that much for a ticket for a reason, but, but in reality, I think,  there's a case to be made for moving this event at the end of the year, sort of like the Pro Bowl in, in, in football.

[00:31:54] Mat Germain: Because,  in reality, you're, you're sort of taking everybody out of sync baseball wise, uh, everybody that's at home. I know they'll say that they, they need the rest after,  the grueling schedule they have to work through. And I get it. Um, but as, as a, as a fan, I think,  the mid summer classic, um, might need to be.

[00:32:15] Mat Germain: Moved at some point in time so that we can actually,  stay in sync, stay in a groove and, uh, and not give so many players so many days off that they get out of sync and, and change the entire season as a result. 

[00:32:30] Mark Corbett: Well, think about this. If we moved it toward the end of the season, we would still occasionally had the world baseball, uh, classic.

[00:32:39] Mark Corbett: And that would be whatever it's in every third year. I can't remember now. That's right. And that. That, uh, I think a lot of people had mixed feelings about their players being on those teams, thinking, Oh my gosh, they could get hurt, or, Oh, they're not there for spring training. So, I mean, in that particular case,  we have an event before the season even begins.

[00:33:01] Mark Corbett: Uh, where would you place that? Would you place that at a different time in the baseball calendar? 

[00:33:08] Mat Germain: Um, I don't think you can really like the, sadly baseball season is so long. I mean, the one thing you could do is shave off a week of the season and allow them to have, uh, a later start for the WBC, uh, or allow them to have a week in between the WBC and when they actually start playing games so that they're not, uh, they're not just jumping back into things so quickly, but.

[00:33:34] Mat Germain: The, WBC is such a, I mean, let, let's put it this way, mark, how many baseball players go to the Caribbean series or go to,  Venezuela or other places to play in the winter? So why don't they have the WBCA longer off season event, like all the way through? Yeah, you can have a game in December.

[00:33:55] Mat Germain: You can have a game in January. You can have a game in February. And then,  it's sort of like what they do for soccer where they have these games played sporadically all the way through for all these tournaments, the EFL and, uh, and soccer has a tournament that goes all the way through their season and it's named and all the way through you keep weeding down the people.

[00:34:16] Mat Germain: And for every round you get through, you get a certain amount of money. Um, so I think there's, there's, There's a case to be made that they could evolve the WBC to be a better tournament by making it longer and not so compacted into a strict schedule. And baseball players are not really not working out all offseason.

[00:34:38] Mat Germain: They're working out the entire offseason. They might take a week or two off, but these are prime athletes that are not really, um,  there for the rest. They're, they're just sort of giving their body a breather and then poof, they're back at it. So they'll appreciate the extra at bats and the extra game situations, even if you give it to them in December, even if you give it to them in January,  you're not asking them to do very much.

[00:35:03] Mat Germain: They show up,  a couple of days before the game, they practice with their team and boom, they play. It's not as big of a deal. As trying to play five games in the span of a week in middle of of what should be spring training right now for the pitchers, that's a different story that that one is the I think that's the golden goose of of how do you grow the WBC because it's fine to see what I just said for the position players.

[00:35:33] Mat Germain: For the pitchers, there is a different aspect and there is a ramp up,  to throwing at high velocity and that kind of thing. So I think that's the, the caveat to what I just said. Um, 

[00:35:45] Mark Corbett: well, yeah, I mean, you got pitchers and catchers report for a reason. They're there a week early because,  the, the body does take a little more warming up before the rest of the field comes.

[00:35:57] Mat Germain: I think if you, if you talk to Nolan Ryan, he'd say pitch all year round. 

[00:36:11] Mark Corbett: No, I was gonna say, you're right. I could just see another round too. He was like, come on people. He, he, he wouldn't have any hesitancy whatsoever to keep pushing them on. 

[00:36:20] Mat Germain: And there are like, there's a case to be made also that WBC should be more about the amateurs than the professionals anyway, uh, so you could have more amateur, uh, centric pitching, uh, instead of using the stars of MLB to, to, to pitch those games.

[00:36:37] Mat Germain: I don't know. I remember way back when, uh, the Olympics used to have that, right? The Olympic, uh, like, for instance, NHL players didn't go to the Olympics. It was more about the amateur players, um, playing. Um, and I think there's something to be said for that. The WBC is a great tournament. I love it. I love the ambiance that they have for it.

[00:36:57] Mat Germain: So yeah, if there's any way, shape or form that they could grow that, I think it's a great avenue to grow the game internationally. I also think that the, the thought of MLB playing regular season games,  as it grows to playing more and more of them overseas in different locations, I think that's outstanding and it needs to happen.

[00:37:19] Mat Germain: Because if we're going to make baseball a lasting sport, uh, in the midst of, of, I know I live in Canada and soccer is just taking over the entire country. Hockey is being played less and less, especially since global warming is not allowing us to skate outdoors as much as it used to. Um, so you're, you're seeing a shift and I know in my community, uh, 99 percent of the of the kids play soccer.

[00:37:45] Mat Germain: Um, I would say a good 70 percent of them played all the way through high school and and meanwhile,  hockey is having a hard time drawing enough girls to feel the, a team or to ice a team. Um, and and the boys are getting less and less and less. It's playing time as well. Uh, and it's harder and harder and it's more and more a wealthy person's game because they can't, others can't afford to play it.

[00:38:08] Mat Germain: So soccer remains that kind of, uh, sport that everybody can play with just the ball and a good pair of shoes. So, uh. Baseball needs to protect itself from the, the world really concentrating itself on soccer. And, uh, and the MLS is growing every single year. Now the crowds are getting bigger. The stadiums are getting bigger.

[00:38:31] Mat Germain: So, uh, hopefully they have an international. Outlook that works long term, 

[00:38:40] Mark Corbett:  I was, I've talked to us before. I used to travel Canada with, uh, with some marketing on digital media. And I remember I'm Saskatoon. And I should say Saskatchewan, it was different cities, it was up, up there. And I, I, I mean, hockey was it, everybody played hockey.

[00:38:59] Mark Corbett:  you little five and six years old, they're taking them out there. It's like, my gosh, I walk into a newspaper and there's equipment,  laying around everywhere by desk and such, and is, is. Has it become that some sports, like you were talking, have, is equipment, has travel become so expensive that those sports, whether it be like travel and baseball or travel with hockey, have made it more difficult for people to play?

[00:39:31] Mat Germain: Impossible. It's literally impossible for a, uh, unless, unless you were born to play the sport and you just laced up a pair of skates and you were just shining like a bright light for whatever reason and, and somebody decided to pay your bill all the way through. If you're not of a certain Salary and able to have the support that you need in order to drive yourself up to at least the junior a level.

[00:40:01] Mat Germain: That's hockey, right? That's that's when you leave home for sure. You might be able to stick around your community or nearby. Right up to midget, uh, triple A. Um, most times you still have to move away for that level. Um, so you need to get all the way up to mid, let's say midget, right? And so all the way through that, it's every year you have extremely high bills in terms of travel costs, equipment, as you grow, the ice time, you don't get anywhere near enough ice time nowadays.

[00:40:33] Mat Germain: And most of the time you're on the ice, you're standing around, you're not really. You're not really driving your, your abilities to the level that you need to in order to be elite. Um, so I, I don't, I can't speak to it like 100%, but I can tell you what I see in my community is those who, because I don't live in a rich community, like Yarmouth, Nova Scotia is not wealthy by any means.

[00:41:00] Mat Germain: Um, I think,  the Jody Shelley is the one guy that came out of here. So it tells you about the type of player that we have in Yarmouth. They're more robust, I guess is the best way to put it. But, uh, the, the, the quality of the players. Um, isn't really the, the issue it's more about what homes that they come from,  they were all really, um, well off people that had,  I don't in our community, it's fishing money, uh, they have, uh, a good support system and financially and, and the ones who can't pay into the team don't get in if they do, it's a 1 year thing and the travel is really hard and tough.

[00:41:43] Mat Germain: And I don't want to, say it's embarrassing, but you're basically begging for people to take you from one location to another. Um, so that you can get to these tournaments a lot of times. Um, so there's,  when you get old, kids get older, 12, 13, 14, that starts to become more and more of an issue. Um, unless they happen to have a really good close friend that they can lean on for that kind of thing.

[00:42:04] Mat Germain: And the parents have a good relationship. Um, Then that's a really, really tough thing. And I'm sure travel baseball has similar issues. It's just that baseball is a sport that you can play with a group of friends,  Sandlot style, you can improve your skills that way. Uh, you, you have Dominican Republican kids that can actually.

[00:42:22] Mat Germain: Hit,  bottle caps with broomsticks and you're improving your skills for baseball that way. Right. There's other ways of doing it. Hockey is, is not like that. You need to be on the ice. You need to be pushed and get every opportunity and do summer hockey, which is another big one so that you're skating year round.

[00:42:40] Mat Germain: And if not, then your NHL dreams are really not existed. Um, I had to say, but that's where hockey is. It's a rich man's sport. 

[00:42:52] Mark Corbett: Well, that's,  something that's not fair. I was talking with, uh, Tony Saladino, He's a guy here in Tampa who's made a big difference in baseball, but, uh, we were talking about this tournament he has each year.

[00:43:08] Mark Corbett: And I said, Well, who all can play? Is it a tournament teams? Is it high school? Is it what, what is it? He's recreation. He said it's high school teams. So the kids that are playing in that tournament, they have it during spring break week each year for a reason. Keep kids out of trouble, but yeah, but the thing was, it's just high school.

[00:43:30] Mark Corbett: And initially that tournament itself was probably about Oh eight or 12 teams. It's 30 plus now. And they've, uh, Tony, his son's kind of taken over, uh, the operation now, but I said, well, now that you're up to so many teams, how do you scale that? Well, what they use is the, uh, Florida, the state high school system actually grades the level of these teams.

[00:43:57] Mark Corbett: So they use that and they create a standard for a gold level, uh,  a, a bronze, et cetera.  but that's, uh, Anyway, that's what they're doing with it. And it's, it's a high school league.  these are, these are kids that are not having to be on a travel team to go somewhere. So I'm real excited when I see a tournament like that.

[00:44:21] Mark Corbett: And I feel like it, and this tournament has been around for so long. It brings in scouts. They used to set up, uh, mobile setups for all the scouts that would come to this. And. There's just, I just wonder how things are changing, man. Well, I'm getting off on a diatribe. Bring me back in, bring me back in, brother.

[00:44:43] Mark Corbett: I tell ya. No, but the whole thing is coming back to the, to the draft. It's, it's a new, it's exciting time. We get to see a lot of, uh, players come up in whose names we may just hear now. And two or three years later say, Oh my gosh, that's, that's Xavier Isaac. All right.  that's, that's a meal pit.

[00:45:03] Mark Corbett: Come on,  what's happening here. Wow. Uh, are, Oh, they're playing for who now? Because we may have traded them within a year or two. So it's going to, it's an exciting part of the game, the draft. 

[00:45:16] Mat Germain: Absolutely. I agree. It's one of those things that gives every team hopes. Um, and I think it is frustrating when you see similar teams make similar mistakes over and over and over again.

[00:45:30] Mat Germain: I, I think the last thing that MLB needs to do with the draft to make it more fun and more of a grown up sport is to allow teams to trade all draft picks. There's no reason for them to not allow teams to draft to trade draft picks. I don't understand it. I think it's, it's babying teams in a time when It's stopping them from using assets that they could use more productively in the right key situations, and it's, it's not needed.

[00:46:00] Mat Germain: There's no reason for it, and it would drive attention to the sport way up if, if you could have a draft where all of a sudden,  the, the fifth overall pick becomes, uh, the Mets pick because they got aggressive and they traded Pete Alonso to the Rays,  whatever happens. You can paint a whole bunch of situations, but the NFL draft is one of the funnest because of that.

[00:46:22] Mat Germain: Hockey is usually,  they still have some trades, a little less so than football. Um, and, and the NBA, same thing, but, uh, I think you have to have the opportunity there so that people will tune in and go, Oh, I wonder if right now in baseball, there's none of that. There's no, I wonder if all it is.

[00:46:41] Mat Germain: Well, I'll see what the results are two days from now and I'll see who they took. 

[00:46:46] Mark Corbett: Yeah, it really, that's it. I mean, the excitement's not so much there. The whole idea, one of my favorite movies, and I probably said this a thousand times before, and that is draft day, Kevin Costner and, and they're doing exactly what you're talking about.

[00:47:00] Mark Corbett: They're, they're willing and dealing. They're, they're making trades before they have to come up and say who they're going to pick,  before the draft day actually comes as well as during that draft day and they're picking, Oh, I'll give you pick number nine, which I have right now. And I know you're not coming in till pick 27, so I'll go ahead and switch with you, but I want these players first.

[00:47:21] Mark Corbett: And to me, that willing and dealing was a very exciting part of the game. So I enjoy that movie a great deal. I wish we had that sort of flexibility with Major League Baseball. 

[00:47:32] Mat Germain: Absolutely. I'll give you an example of a time when,  Brian Burke with the Vancouver Canucks traded like a whole bunch of ammunition in order to land twins.

[00:47:44] Mat Germain: At the top of the N Hhl draft twins. Geez. Right. He took the Sadine twins and the only way he could do that was by making trades and they absolutely wanted to play on the same team. That's one, that was one of their, their big things for coming over. If not, they're gonna stay in Sweden for a long time.

[00:47:59] Mat Germain: Wow. So, so,  it drove the, that, the tension to that draft way up and, and I think MLB needs that kind of attention For sure. 

[00:48:09] Mark Corbett: Well, I've had about as much fun as I can have in one session, man, I don't know about you. Is there any other items you want to make sure we cover today? 

[00:48:17] Mat Germain: Uh, no, well, just one minor note and it is in the minors.

[00:48:21] Mat Germain: Marcus Johnson came back, is getting sent to the FCL for a, for a, um, a rehab assignment. And I really like his stuff. He's one of those guys that really did well last year. And I was, he had a major injury this year. Uh, so he was. He's been out for the majority of the year, and, um, I think he's somebody to keep an eye on in the future.

[00:48:41] Mat Germain: He could end up in, in A plus once he's done his rehab, uh, and, and really to just start looking at the, the schedule, the, the Rays, um, in about, what the, after the first week of August, end up really running ragged in terms of who they're facing and how quickly the games are going to pile up one after the other.

[00:49:02] Mat Germain: So it's going to be, uh,  the next two weeks trades. And promotions and it's just going to be havoc in terms of the, um, the, the amount of transactions that are going on. And then we have the vote on the 18th. That'll be the most interesting thing as a race fan.

[00:49:24] Mark Corbett: Stop for a minute. Cause I was getting a little tweets, a little tween your words there. I don't know. It's weird. Oh yeah. 

[00:49:32] Mat Germain: Words. My microphone is. Oh, you got hers. Tweeting. Yeah. 

[00:49:39] Mark Corbett: Okay. Well, good. Then I'm not so concerned. They probably won't pick all that up on the actual report. Oh, that's good. That's good. No, I know with, um, with the Rays, I can't wait to see what's coming back up in, like I said, in August.

[00:49:52] Mark Corbett: One thing I want to remind folks too, is the USA women's baseball team. And they're going to be playing at Thunder Bay up there on the other side of the border. So I am curious to see how that plays out. And. I'll just briefly state when we talk about teams that are able to play together and they're getting their team together right now.

[00:50:13] Mark Corbett: I mean, they don't play in a league. They, they are the,  they saw about a league of their own. They're a team of their own in their own league. That's it. So, but it's, there's so many champions in that, that are, that are there as coaches and they continue to, continue to grow. Coach young girls and women through MLB develops like through the trailblazer system, et cetera.

[00:50:34] Mark Corbett: So it's an exciting week right now because they're doing basically the trials of the women that, uh, that will finally qualify for that team that'll be heading to Thunder Bay. So exciting times there. I'll be talking about that on X. com, twitter. com, whatever it is. Get your birds in here, Matt, tweet a few more.

[00:50:58] Mark Corbett: Alrighty. Well, thank you all again for joining MatJermaine and myself here today on baseball biz on deck. And remember, you can find Matat M a T underscore G E R M a I N. Uh, x. com. That's at Matunderscore Jermaine underscored. I get that, right? Yep. Okay. Anyway, thank you all again for joining us today and we look forward to talking to you again real soon.

[00:51:22] Mark Corbett: you can find Baseball Biz on baseball vis oeck.com, you can find us on Spotify iHeartRadio. We're out there everywhere, iTunes, and just give us a review. Give us a five stars and a few kind words. And we love that. So until next time, thanks again, special thanks to XtakeRUX for the music rocking forward, you know.

[00:51:51] Mark Corbett: I took that little to Dunn. I put it on one of the other shows the other day after you, you said you ought to use that, um, 

[00:52:00] Mat Germain: it 

[00:52:00] Mark Corbett: worked 

[00:52:00] Mat Germain: well. 

[00:52:01] Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yeah. It worked. It's just something silly little signature mark at the end. Oh man. Oh, it's, it's been crazy. I know I want to try to do another show with you this week.

[00:52:12] Mark Corbett: I'm actually going up to Louisville, which I had planned to see dad, but he, uh, he wound up going to the hospital earlier this week and then, but he's back to his. Is a living place now, so that's good news. So it's a little concerned earlier. And I'm not sure what all I want to find when I get up here, but I would like to do another show with you, like, said about the after the vote and maybe see if we can get Colleen on as well.

[00:52:37] Mat Germain: Absolutely. Just let me know when I am working on toll. I want to say 3 Eastern most days, but after that, I'm pretty much open as long as you give me a heads up. I think Friday or no, Saturday is the only day that I wouldn't be available. 

[00:52:56] Mark Corbett: Okay. Okay. Maybe, maybe we'll do something Friday. Then we'll see.

[00:53:00] Mark Corbett: I'll keep you, uh, in, uh, involved with whatever my schedule is up to be. 

[00:53:07] Mat Germain: Are you staying out of the heat down here? Cause I keeps hearing about the, the heat waves and stuff. I'm in a comfortable temperature down here, like 75, 73. 

[00:53:17] Mark Corbett: Oh, I hate you. 73 and 75. Yeah, no, it's, it's, it's, uh, it's been more toasty. If you're going to get out and walk, you got to do it earlier.

[00:53:28] Mark Corbett: You got to do it late. It's just, it just saps the energy out of you when you walk out there. It's, it's so daggone odd, but 

[00:53:35] Mat Germain: you got to get rid of some salts. That's, that's a good way to do it. That'll do it. It's not good for much. You're right. Oh no. But anyway, well, 

[00:53:47] Mark Corbett: brother, I'll catch up with you soon. You take care and I'll, I'll see, uh, see what's happening.

[00:53:53] Mark Corbett: Sounds good. Thank you.

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