Rays Stadium Frustration, New Owners? + Outlook & Injuries - RaysUP

• Tampa Smokers night at the Tampa Baseball Museum in Ybor with Joe Maddon & Larry Rothschild https://www.tampabaseballmuseum.org/
• Rays Fans Stadium Fatigue
• Rays owner, Stu Sternberg's, past challenges with minority owners of Rays
• Stu's staunch support of community charities & representation with Pride Night & Heritage Nights. Some conservatives not pleased
• St Pete Deal in question
• March 31st Deadline  -  Rays Matt Silverman, Stu Sternberg, St Pete & $700 million
• Shouldn’t Rays have had a better “What IF” plan B
• JP Peterson scoop on buyers of Tampa Bay Rays 
• 3 groups of potential buyers: 
  • Joe Molloy & DeBartolo family
  • Dan Doyle of Dex Imaging
  • Carter McCain with mystery out of town investors
  • What about Darryl Shaw
  • DeBartolo pardoned by Donald Trump – how that might impact sale
• Alternate locations for Rays if St Pete deal goes awry – Ybor City, Florida State Fairgrounds, Orlando or relocate Yankees & move Rays into a remodeled George Steinbrenner Field
• Would Fairgrounds location get support from Ron DeSantis & Trump?
• Historical look at McCourts ownership of LA Dodgers & MLB Commissioner
• Rays saga could be a movie with George Clooney playing Stu
• Value of an Open Air stadium comparisons between Montreal’s Big O stadium “parking lot” experience compared to the outdoor beauty of Fenway
• Late summer heat and health of minor league players in Florida
• St Pete Real Estate Development agreement with Stu includes 65 acres at a greatly reduced value price
• AL East - Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays injuries 
• Impact of losing Gerritt Cole, Luis Gil, Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu
• Yankees will need more runs from Anthony Volpe, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt
• Braves passed on Max Fried – aging & injuries?
• Red Sox injuries include Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito, Kutter Crawford, Sandoval . . .
• Orioles & Grayson Rodriguez
• Jays injuries include Max Scherzer, Alek Manoah & Eric Swanson
• Rays healthiest in AL East – Shane McClanahan is back and pitching rotation is strong
• Curtis Mead is getting extra opportunities in Spring Training
• Rays Versatile Roster includes a strong bench with Curtis Mead, Richie Palacio & Curtis Mead
• Looking forward to Ha-Seong Kim and Danny Jansen this season with the Rays
• Mat’s Rays Trifecta – New Stadium, Playoff Run & World Series

Special Thanks to the Nurses, Doctors & staff at South Florida Baptist Hospital

Follow Mat on Blue Sky at  https://bsky.app/profile/matgermain.bsky.social

You can find Mark on Blue Sky at https://bsky.app/profile/baseballbizondeck.bsky.social
Special thanks to XTaKeRuX for the music “Rocking Forward

Transcript

282 RaysUp for Sell & Spring Training

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. And with me of course, is Mr. Mat Germain. And I'm Mark Corbett, and we're glad you're here. One crazy Canadian and some crazy Florida guy trying to figure world out with spring training and everything else to boot and man, we are glad to have you here. Oh goodness, Mat. Hey, how you been doing brother?

[00:00:21] Mat Germain: I'm 

[00:00:21] Mat Germain: thawing. 

[00:00:22] Mat Germain: I'm thawing very slowly. The weather's warming up one degree a week, I think somewhere around there. I'm not in your weather, which I, I wish I was, I had planned to go and I was gonna go to Arizona as well, or to, to, uh, Las Vegas. So I would've been warm, but instead I'm suffering through the, uh, the early start of spring in Canada, which is not always a, a quick, uh, turnaround.

[00:00:49] Mark Corbett: You've got such beautiful country up here. I gotta say, every time I went to Canada, I always had a fantastic experience. Anytime I went, had business to do, I'd make sure I'd have time to get off the road and enjoy everything that's there, so, wow. But. Coming to baseball. I gotta say we've been fortunate. I mean, the last month or so, we've, we've been trying to look through spring training.

[00:01:11] Mark Corbett: We had Brent Cardy on talking about the Blue Jays. You know, we had Nat Gordo on talking, uh, from Play Tessie's podcast talking about, uh, everything with the Red Sox. I've got feelers out for, , Nathan at full count chaos. Hopefully we get him back here soon. I wanna hit all the Al East guys. I wanna have some fun.

[00:01:31] Mat Germain: Yeah, by all means. 

[00:01:32] Mark Corbett: We'll, we'll talk a little bit about the Yankees here in a bit, but it's been fun right now. And myself too. I had a good time at the Tampa Baseball Museum recently. They had an event with the JC Newman Company, and the creators of several fine cigars and they, they were rolling out a new brand called the Tampa Smoker, which is after a team from years and years ago.

[00:01:54] Mark Corbett: That was a minor league team here in Tampa. So that was pretty cool. The coolest thing about it though, Mat, was I got to see Joe Madden. Larry Rothschild, two of the former, uh, Raysd managers were there, and that was really cool. So it was quite the event. I, I'm not a smoker, but, uh, I enjoyed the time with those folks.

[00:02:15] Mark Corbett: Gotta speak a little bit with each of 'em. And it was a, it was a neat evening. 

[00:02:20] Mat Germain: Nice. Oh, that sounds 

[00:02:21] Mat Germain: good. 

[00:02:22] Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yep, yep, yep. You know, there's being a Rays fan. This is a RaysUp edition, just in case you guys and gals are wondering, and it is because Mat and I have plenty here in front of us.

[00:02:33] Mark Corbett: So much talk about stadium, so much talk about ownership, and I've gotten tired. I mean, people come up and ask me and, and say, Hey, hey, what do you think's gonna happen? I said, just walk. I want something. Walk away. Walk away from me. Now I am feeling. When it comes to this, I'm not, I don't wanna hear anymore.

[00:02:49] Mark Corbett: I don't wanna say anymore. And lo and behold, you and I and Craig Calcaterra last week, I think mentioned that there was some rumblings from the JP Peterson show about possibly some people putting forth an offer for the Rays. Mm-hmm. And it was still kind of. Sub ground. We weren't really hearing anything else.

[00:03:10] Mark Corbett: Jp, he had it. I mean, uh, I heard Brody, Brazil bring it up again, but said what? I don't know. It's just another river. And lo and behold, now there are three count 'em, three different groups who are interested in buying the Rays. All this going on while we have a deadline of March 31st. Of when Stu Sternberg and the Rays as they exist today are supposed to be, have, have, uh, $700 million in getting ready to roll with a new stadium.

[00:03:42] Mark Corbett: There's a commitment that has, that has to be made or it has been made and it's either gonna be met. That deadline or a lot of work that's already been done is going to disappear. What was the last year? We had Colleen write on this show and she did a great job of detailing that out. We'll probably get her back on as things develop again.

[00:04:00] Mark Corbett: Here. She's from the Tampa Bay Times. 

[00:04:04] Mark Corbett: Right. The, the, I think the, the important part to know, right, and in all of this is that there's nothing that can force Stu Sternberg to sell. Right. That's the first part. The second part is to know what he paid for the franchise. Right. For, for his portion. So I, I know he doesn't own a hundred percent of the team.

[00:04:26] Mark Corbett: Right. But he owns a significant amount. And from what I've heard, and, and I think you probably followed this as well when it was going on, apparently he pressured a lot of the minority owners over time through all the time that he's been an owner. To sell him their stake at reduced rates compared to what he may have been a forced to pay on the open market.

[00:04:47] Mark Corbett: Right. So, and then that's why the remaining minority owners took him to court, and I think it's still in process. I haven't heard a resolution, so it is still going through the courts process, so there's that hanging up over him. But if you have. You have to figure that whatever he paid for the team has been paid off a long time ago.

[00:05:06] Mark Corbett: There's no, there's no debts. And you know, going on 200 

[00:05:10] Mark Corbett: million, 200 million and back in 2004, 

[00:05:13] Mat Germain: 200 million, okay? 

[00:05:14] Mark Corbett: 200 

[00:05:15] Mat Germain: million. Right. So 200 million he paid, so that is probably paid for and good and done. Every year he, he rakes in another 50 to 75 million, right? For the revenues that he isn't spending because of everything he's taking in from the league, from revenues, right?

[00:05:32] Mat Germain: Everything else. So you could average it out to somewhere between 50 and a hundred million we'll say, uh, that he's making per year. Why on earth would you give that up? In perpetuity for a quick buck. This is why, I mean, yes, he wants the stadium built. Yes, he wants that resolved, but there's no pressure. He owns one of 30 seats at the table in franchises.

[00:05:59] Mat Germain: Right. But what I will say, in my opinion is the, the value would be and if, , the commissioner has an angle on somebody that he wants to own it because he wants to resolve it. In Florida, we know that Stu Sternberg has a good relationship with a group in Montreal. Nothing says like Jeffrey Luria, who went from Montreal to Miami.

[00:06:20] Mat Germain: Stu Sternberg could become an owner of, uh, the Montreal Group when expansion comes around and use some of the money that he rakes in from No sale of the Rays to do that. Right. He does. He doesn't have to own a franchise in Montreal that is from Tampa. Right. It can be a brand new franchise. So there's, there's a lot to consider in this entire equation, but I think you're gonna, you're gonna go more into who is bidding on the Rays right now, and then who might wanna a piece of the pie.

[00:06:54] Mark Corbett: Well, it's good to understand who the players are, and it is good to understand the history of Stu and his options. And you're talking about Montreal and. Bronfman and when initially there was a conversation of having the team play here half the year and play in Montreal half the year, which fans here really kind of got upset about.

[00:07:13] Mark Corbett: And initially I think Manfred was not, I. Against it, but shortly thereafter he turned and said, no, no, we're not gonna do that. And kinda left Stew out to, to, that's just got to deal with it. Stu and I gotta say, whatever you think about Stu Sternberg, he's had. Conflict that a lot of people just shouldn't have to deal with anyway.

[00:07:36] Mark Corbett: I mean, the whole idea of him getting the deal together and trying to get the deal together with St. Peter all this time and then that hurricane came through and just tossed everything away. Mm-hmm. Uh, the, the problem was, I think, in a lot of way ways was that the Rayss did not have a plan for what if.

[00:07:56] Mark Corbett: You know, not, not necessarily that you're like a hurricane's going to get, but I mean, it's like if you go to buy a house or, or if you have somebody come in and you're having the, the homework done and say, I, oh, I've got a budget of 150,000. Okay, well great. This, this is what we wanna do. Oh yeah, we took the walls down, found out you got termites.

[00:08:13] Mark Corbett: Oh no, God. Oh, that's gonna be another $10,000. Oh, and by the way, did we say we gotta rewire the entire house? Well. Those, those are things, man. Those are things that, that you, that happen when you're buying a house. So it's, it's surprising to me that the Rays seemed so suppressed that they weren't ready to have funds to deal with something like.

[00:08:39] Mark Corbett: This tragedy of, of a 

[00:08:41] Mat Germain: hurricane. I have to stop you there because the president of the Rays said something above this, which I agree with. Their problem is not that they don't have the funds. Their problem is that they don't feel like they should be on the hook for it all. That's what the, and and honestly, the clause is exactly that, that you will be on the hook for it.

[00:09:00] Mat Germain: Yeah. So really the lawyers, the people that went through this process with Stu, should have explained, Hey, by the way, do you know that if the roof gets ripped off, you're on the hook? If, if a, if an orca jumps out of the water and lands on the top of the roof, it doesn't Mater what it is, you're on the hook.

[00:09:21] Mat Germain: And I mean, somebody as smart and business savvy as Stu Sternberg should have known that was the case. And he does know, which is why it's such tedious position. And there's nothing bluntly being done or said yet. Right, right. It's more finagling 

[00:09:39] Mark Corbett: Let's talk to you about big part of this whole, uh, redevelopment of the new Trop, whatever you wanna call it, new stadium in St.

[00:09:49] Mark Corbett: Pete was this development of a business district all around there. And we're talking about the gas plant district and there was gonna be all this retail, hotels, entertainment, uh, the African American Museum, all these different things, these components that were gonna be brought together. And Stu had the good sense to.

[00:10:07] Mark Corbett: Negotiate that deal first before getting everything done with the stadium. Now in the end, for that to actually all happen, even though that deal was done, it was still gonna be incumbent upon them to have the deal with the stadium as well. I don't think they could do it exclusively, even though they were two different projects.

[00:10:28] Mark Corbett: They were kind of pinky tied together there. Right. And so, but that's, it's, uh, it is been a long, hard ride. And as we come to this March 31st date, when the Rays gotta show, they're gonna have 700 million and they're serious about doing everything in the midst of all that. As I was talking about earlier, uh, JP Peterson finds that, Ooh, it looks like there's some people interested in buying this team.

[00:10:52] Mark Corbett: , I think you were the one who sent it to me first. You're talking about the, uh, Dar what's the depar? I can't speak The DeBartolo of family. Uh, the ones who had worked with the 49 ERs and, and uh, oh and just recently got pardoned by, I dunno, it was this time, or the last time number were 47 or 49 that, uh, that, uh.

[00:11:10] Mark Corbett: Gave Mr. DeBartolo a pardon? Mm-hmm. But, uh, yeah, yeah, so he's, he's working with also the DePalo families with Joe Malloy, who has been with the Yankees organization, I believe at some point, a minority owner. So they are a group that's interesting and. Another one, which I, it tick tickles me anytime I think about Dex Imaging.

[00:11:34] Mark Corbett: Um, you know, I go into the Raysd stadium and you see all those high end seats right behind home plate and, and Dex Imaging's all over it. So that was Dan Doyle Jr. He's the one who's the CEO of that company. And what's what's interesting too. If you look at it is back in 2023 there was him, and actually there was another guy, I can't think of his full name, Trip, something or other,

[00:11:59] Mark Corbett: and they were looking at possibly getting, buying the Rays at that time. But then Mr. Doyle stepped away from the that, but obviously he's renewed that interest now. So we got the Doyle group. With Dex Imaging, we've got Joe Malloy with the DeBartolo family, and then on top of that there is the mystery.

[00:12:19] Mark Corbett: The mystery, yeah. Of Investor and Carter McCain, who's a lawyer I think, from this area, or at least an investor of Sarz. He is. What's called a All-Star team of Investors group that he's representing now, man, you may or may not have heard this, but none of these people are actually from Tampa is my understanding.

[00:12:42] Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. So there's still a big question mark and a mist around who they are. But so between these three groups. Joe Maloy Depart in the Depart Family, the Doyle group, you know with, and also with whoever, Carter McCain. So we've got three different groups who are interested in getting the Rays. One last thing I wanna point out about Carter McCain is from what I read, is that he is not directly soliciting Stu Sternberg, but he's soliciting through the commissioner's office for the Rays, which I'm curious about if that's even.

[00:13:17] Mark Corbett: Possible. But, uh, we'll see. Hell, there's a whole lot of something. 

[00:13:23] Mat Germain: Is Darryl Shaw part of any of these groups? 

[00:13:26] Mark Corbett: Not that I can see. 'cause I, I, I was curious too. I mean, he's, he's bought up so much of Ybor, you know, we're 

[00:13:31] Mat Germain: Right. Exactly. That's why I'm wondering, like, there has to be an angle where, uh, I think they've mentioned that that's the location they would like to end up in.

[00:13:41] Mat Germain: Um, if this. Purchase or the sale goes through at any point in time. So to me, if one of those groups had him on board, it would kind of point to a front runner in Tampa, I would think. Uh, but yeah, all of those options that you present, like they each have their own strengths and weaknesses, I would say 

[00:14:00] Mark Corbett: It's gonna be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[00:14:03] Mark Corbett: Like I said. Yeah, I, I told you a month ago. I'm not talking about this Dagone Stadium thing until March 31st. I'm not gonna talk about it. But with three owners groups coming here potentially looking at it, I gotta at least say something and it is just goofy as hell. But you bring up Darryl Shaw and I've said Eboard.

[00:14:22] Mark Corbett: 'cause he has an investment in that area and we were looking very seriously at having a stadium there. What's interesting too is that. There's been other locations that have been offered as potential look for beyond St. Pete, and one of 'em is the state fairgrounds.

[00:14:40] Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. It's interesting, but I use the word state because I'm not sure how, uh, if Ron DeSantis would've to give a blessing on this or not. And well, let's play this. Let's go back to the Trump thing. So you got to DeBartolo , who's, been pardoned. I. A while back by Trump. Right? And, and then if you bring him in as the owner, and if you have DeSantis who's a devotee of the president and there's working there, what?

[00:15:12] Mark Corbett: What we see. The potential here. I and, and you think back, if you go way back in time, you know, Donald was actually trying to have start a new league. It was starting out in DC but that's a whole other show. But, so in, so the Fairgrounds Ybor, and by the fairgrounds, we also had the Hard Rock nearby. Mm-hmm.

[00:15:35] Mark Corbett: So the Hard Rock cafe's nearby, and then there's still some musings about somewhere around Orlando. So I think we'll keep a team in this area no Mater what happens. I'm just not sure where they're going to be and don't, I don't know thoughts. 

[00:15:55] Mat Germain: I think that I, I think I've told you what my ultimate scenario is, which is basically you boot the Yankees a affiliate out, and you build there and you let's two keep running it and you don't, you know, you let the other ones be part of new ownership groups in Nashville and Utah, wherever else that you know may be involved in terms of expansion.

[00:16:15] Mat Germain: To me, that's the ultimate play. You're, you're bringing up a a point in terms of the political side of things, which is why it's very surprising. 'cause I don't remember like the last time I remember an MLB commissioner pressuring an owner to sell mm-hmm. Was when the McCourts were going through their issues in Los Angeles.

[00:16:35] Mat Germain: And I mean, it was, it was so much of a distraction that it was ruining what. Ended up being a great franchise after the sale. So, you know, it, it turned out to be a huge success. Right. So I think they're envisioning the same kind of thing in Tampa, is that, you know, all this bruhaha and the way that that Stu Sternberg has, I.

[00:16:55] Mat Germain: Antagonize the entire region over and over and over again to the point where he probably did squash some deals because of his attitude and, and inability to make nice with people of all, um, stripes. But to his credit, he stuck to his guns and to his ethics, and he continues to have Pride Nights and he continues to have heritage nights.

[00:17:17] Mat Germain: For Canadians, Colombians, Brazilians, Greeks. It doesn't Mater what ethnicity you are, you are covered in Raysd heritage days. Um, and, and it's, it's a great thing to have, especially in a state in like Florida that needs more of that. Oh yeah. Represented in a, you know, in a strong way. So. My fear is that the commissioner is trying to appease Trump, who isn't going to enjoy any of those things going on at the stadium.

[00:17:46] Mat Germain: Um, and and in doing so, is pressuring Stu out now? I know Stu is probably, I. Hardheaded enough to stick it out, whether or not he will, especially when we talked about the financial, you know, if, if you're sitting on a landmine that's worth 1.6 billion, uh, billion dollars to you, and then you can take that 1.6 billion, put 1 billion in the bank and use the 600 million other ones to be part of a new ownership group somewhere else, why wouldn't you?

[00:18:16] Mat Germain: Right. To me, that's the play for Stew. It, it just makes sense. And then you're o off the hook. You're off the, you can go live up north and be far away from whatever, uh, nonsense that you obviously, you know, clash with a little bit in that area. But it's still, like I said, it doesn't give you that steady stream of a hundred million every year.

[00:18:37] Mat Germain: Right. That's also just as lucrative. You do that for 20 years and then who knows what the value of that franchise is at that point. You might be able to sell it for three or $4 billion at that point. So there's, there's no loss. On Stu Sternberg's part, he's, I'm not gonna weep because he's forced to sell the, the franchise.

[00:18:56] Mat Germain: Nobody should feel bad for him. If he does get pushed out, he will be fine. The, the spoon will be golden for his kids and his kids'. Kids and their kids'. Kids', kids. And they'll all eat well and live long happy lives. Uh, let's hope. But, uh, I think for the Rays fans, you know, they just want a resolution. Like you, they've been tortured, literally tortured since 2008 about the stadium thing, and it's been nonsense.

[00:19:26] Mat Germain: It's been, you know, all kinds of hooks and riddles and, and people trying and decode these things. You know, like in the, in World War II or whatever, they have these movies where you get the code and you're trying to decode it. That's what we feel like when we're trying to guess how the stadium thing is gonna end up.

[00:19:42] Mat Germain: Nobody knows. There's not even. 18 days away, mark, and we still can't figure out what is going to happen. I mean, there's going to be a movie about this. I don't think Brad Pitt play the lead role, but maybe George Clooney can take on the role of Stu Sternberg. Right. I don't know. Somebody, somebody with some, you know.

[00:20:05] Mat Germain: Some panache in the same way and we'll have another great baseball movie. But it, I just want a resolution for the Rays fans. Like just get it done, get them a new stadium, get them seats they can enjoy for another 30 years or more. And uh, and then we can laugh about all the nonsense afterwards. 

[00:20:26] Mark Corbett: I like your idea still of the, the George Steinbrenner Stadium. 

[00:20:32] Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

[00:20:34] Mark Corbett: I just cannot get rid of this. Hang on, man. Sorry. No problem. 

[00:20:37] Mat Germain: Take your time. I can give you some elevator music at the same time.

[00:20:46] Mark Corbett: Perfect. Perfect. Oh gosh, no. I, like I said, I like your idea about the George Steinbrenner Stadium. Uh, I think it's gonna be interesting this year to see the Rays with 11,000 seats. Uh, there's some talk about expansion of a couple thousand. I'm not sure if they're gonna get any of that done, but anyway, it goes, you know, you'll have a full house quite a bit.

[00:21:09] Mark Corbett: And what is it we're looking at, the 47 of the first 59 games are gonna be played at home. The heat the rest of the year, and I am really curious.

[00:21:22] Mark Corbett: I'm really curious to see how fans react. Right? Before the show, you and I were talking, I thought about going out and see spring training game over, see the Detroit Tigers playing in Lakeland right down the road from me. And they were playing the Rays and I started looking at a StubHub and the rest of'em.

[00:21:37] Mark Corbett: I said, oh my gosh. They went, what? For what? You know, and I'm a, I'm a cheapo. I'll tell you that right now, man. I'm a cheapie cheap son of a gun. But the, the tickets were going up quite a bit, and I did watch part of it on the tube today on MLB. It was interesting to see, I mean, it was neat to see that stadium about like 8,500 people, mostly full.

[00:21:59] Mark Corbett: I mean, there was a pocket of a seat here or there that wasn't full. But outside of that it, you know, with people out there on the berm quite a bit, it was just, it was great and it felt good. I talked earlier today about the temperature being like 73 degrees. It was just, it was a wonderful, wonderful day, and those I could think was that place at 8,500 people.

[00:22:21] Mark Corbett: I love the idea of being over at George Steinbrenner with similar weather. Mm-hmm. And it's just gonna be fantastic. 

[00:22:29] Mat Germain: They've gotta be able to find a way to mist people or have a, you know, the, you remember like the old, uh, coliseum in Italy, like the row, it had those like cloth overhangs that would go out right.

[00:22:42] Mat Germain: And keep everybody a little bit cooler. Yeah. Provide more shade or whatever. There's gotta be a way to do that kind of thing and still keep it mostly an outdoor stadium. But I think ultimately though, they would wanna have some sort of covering that they can put on. Um, I don't know. I just think the, the outdoors, you know, thing for, like, I'll give you one example, right?

[00:23:05] Mat Germain: For me from Montreal, saw hundreds of games at the Big O in Montreal in what I would call an underground cement stadium. It's like watching it in an underground parking lot and they just put a carpet over it, right? And then, Hey, go play ball. So when I went to Fenway the first time, it was like I was watching baseball for the first time ever.

[00:23:27] Mat Germain: I had never considered how awe opening it would be to have this, you know, outdoors, fresh air, fresh grass, like just completely different feel to it as a fan. So I can only imagine even as a player, how different that is as well. So I think the Rays, you know. This experience at Steinbrenner Field could open up their eyes to some other opportunities, especially in the stadium design.

[00:24:00] Mat Germain: And when you think about it, because as they're playing those games and going through that process, they're gonna learn things. And they're gonna say, this works. This doesn't work. We could do this. We could not do this. And from a major league baseball point of view, if they're willing to bend the schedule on a regular basis, not to the extent that they did this time, but you know, to a lesser extent, um, you know, maybe that does open the door for an outdoorish kind of stadium that's a little bit less boxy than what they, they had envisioned in, uh, in other locations.

[00:24:34] Mark Corbett: You know, that would, that would be something, if there's a way to provide more shade, because that's the key. I mean, with Karen, Karen and I, we go sometimes to the, the minor league games around here in the Gulf, uh, complex league, the, uh, Florida Complex League rather. And it's, it's interesting because one of the first things we check is.

[00:24:50] Mark Corbett: Okay. Where's the shade? That time of day rather. Okay. Where? Picking our seats. Yeah. All right. It's, yeah. 

[00:24:57] Mat Germain: That's smart. 

[00:24:58] Mark Corbett: Oh, it is. It's a major consideration and I'll pay a little more for those shaded seats, my friend. 

[00:25:05] Mat Germain: I remember talking to some of the pitchers that, that were in the minor leagues for the Rays.

[00:25:10] Mat Germain: I can't remember exactly which one, uh, but I could guess on a few, but. They were saying how, you know, they'd be said, oh, do I really need to go out for another inning? Like they're just completely dehydrated, so could not, you know, could not feel their arm because they're just completely out and they're like, yeah, this is not good.

[00:25:31] Mat Germain: Geez. It's crazy. It's crazy. I mean, and that's the thing. You gotta keep the young men safe out there, so. Mm-hmm. We'll see how this all develops this year. Let's see, what else is going on? You know, I think that's. Most of what I wanted to talk about. I mean, there's a lot more I have written down about the, the values and you know, who's gonna be putting up what money.

[00:25:52] Mat Germain: But most folks can find that anyway online. Uh, but it is, no, it is interesting. Again, notice we've talked to the beginning about the development plan for the area. We're like, St. Pete was gonna be giving up like 65 acres of land, you know, well, might, well, for the price, aver could Rays. Mm-hmm. There's, there's a lot at stake for.

[00:26:13] Mat Germain: I can see why he would like to keep the deal over there, but he'd be, and I wanted to say thank you to pointing out how Stu has made a commitment to community. 'cause the Rays he do a lot as far as contributions and supportive folks and whether it be some things like with Pride Night also, or , say with Canada or all the other heritage.

[00:26:36] Mat Germain: It's his, like you said, it's gotten him in trouble sometimes. I love that. I mean, if you feel strongly about something and you're willing to stand up for it, I salute you for that. And yeah, I think he's gotten some resistance from, uh, from the governor's office before, you know, because of putting together things and supporting things like Brad night, uh, I don't know.

[00:26:59] Mat Germain: I, I, so those parts of what he does. Still have an appeal for me, so I would not be opposed to him as an owner, but I would love to see that come back over here into Tampa and at George Steinbrenner. I like that you put those two pieces together for me, man. And I, I love it. I absolutely love it. I, I'll feel for all the poor folks in St.

[00:27:20] Mat Germain: Pete's and Pinellas County for all they've done, but I like that idea a lot. 

[00:27:24] Mat Germain: They could inherit the single a Yankees affiliate. Right. They probably would draw more people out there because of it. 

[00:27:32] Mark Corbett: Ooh, that's true though, 

[00:27:34] Mat Germain: right? No, but I mean, if you're, if you're, uh, somebody from New York, you're visiting Tampa and you're enjoying the beach, you know, in St.

[00:27:43] Mat Germain: Pete Oh yeah. Uh, in Clearwater or whatever, then you. You definitely would consider going to a NA ball game and seeing a rehab of j Giancarlo Stanton and his broken elbows. Oh yeah. Uh, all this kind of funky stuff you get to see, you know, it's, yeah, I think there's, there's legs to that as well, and I don't know if it would be Al Lang.

[00:28:03] Mat Germain: I don't know if it'd be ex, it's not exactly central to the plans that, you know, development plans that they're talking about. I'm sure they would want something more significant for that. Um, but I think if you're talking about having a co-located stadium of the rowdies and the single a affiliate, you know, um, for the Yankees, that's doable.

[00:28:23] Mat Germain: Yeah. That's something you can manage, right? Um, and then you're still, you, you can still build up the amount of people to a, a significant amount, amount. You might even be able to go up to 18 or 20,000, you know? . For the number of fans that you'd be able to get to a Rowdy's game over time, maybe.

[00:28:40] Mat Germain: I don't know. 

[00:28:41] Mark Corbett: Possibilities. Possibilities. That's what it's all about. Mm-hmm. Well. We're gonna give them a rest for a 

[00:28:48] Mat Germain: moment. Let, let's talk injuries. Mark. Let's talk injuries.

[00:28:51] Mark Corbett: How did you know where I was going? Good Lord. Let, let's get rolling with the injuries, my friend. Do you, do you, do you wanna talk Rays or do you wanna talk Yankees?

[00:29:01] Mat Germain: You go ahead. You start it and I'll follow up. 

[00:29:04] Mark Corbett: Oh gosh. Well, I, I was thanking Yankees because my gosh, this has been an ugly, ugly couple of weeks for them. You had, let's see, who was the, uh. Gil, I can't think of Gil's first. Luis Gil, and they lost him. I don't know how long he's gonna be at, but the big, big, big loss for the Yankees.

[00:29:25] Mark Corbett: My gosh. I mean, the. Gerritt Cole As you say, he's, uh, they're saying what he's now, I think today the announce gonna have the Tommy John surgery. 

[00:29:37] Mat Germain: He's having the Tommy John, and 

[00:29:39] Mark Corbett: you know, you're not gonna be back the same year with that. You know? I mean, look how length Shane McClanahan was out. Geez. 

[00:29:46] Mat Germain: They have him and then they had Luis Gil, like you said, I think it was a shoulder or a lat train that he's dealing with.

[00:29:52] Mat Germain: So they're kind of combined right into one. We, you never know where the actual issue is. Yeah. Ho he'll come back, but shoulders are finicky, so I don't know it. He pushed himself hard last year, like he really. Amped up the, the use of, of pitches in key moments and completely, you know, he went from being a reliever for those that don't know into a starting role.

[00:30:15] Mat Germain: Yeah. So the in increase in workload was significant for him. And as we've seen a lot of times when you ramp things up that much that that ends up, you know, biting you in the end, you know, the vast majority of the time. So. That was the second one. And then Giancarlo Stanton's elbows. Mm-hmm. I just can't get over those.

[00:30:35] Mat Germain: So, you know, people forget also that they dealt away Gleyber Torres, right? Or didn't They lost him in free agency. They didn't deal in away, um. And then DJ LeMahieu who's out as well. So you've got a lot of professional hitters that are out and a lot of their, you know, I think their three top run producers for last year, other than Soto, uh, and judge, right?

[00:31:01] Mat Germain: So if you take the next three beyond those. Two guys. Um, they're all out. So it's gonna be interesting to see which of their young guys rise to the occasion and actually, you know, develop a little bit like Anthony Volpe is a guy that you could envision taking up a little bit more space. Right. But how much pressure does it put on that group of young players coming in?

[00:31:24] Mat Germain: Now you're relying on Cody Bellinger, who's brand new to the team. Mm-hmm. Paul Goldschmidt, who's a veteran and can probably, you know, calm a lot of people down, but his bad is slowing, so he's gonna put more pressure on himself to produce, and then the young guy. So everybody on that squad other than Aaron Judge, is just kind of like, you want me to do what?

[00:31:45] Mat Germain: Like, I'm carrying the load now. Like, what is this? What do you mean we have to score more runs because our pitching's gonna suck? Like, what is, what 

[00:31:52] Mark Corbett: is this? It's, it's crazy, Mat. It's absolutely crazy. You mentioned Gleyber Torres. I saw a little bit of him today 'cause he's playing with the Tigers now and, uh, yeah, he, but coming back to the Yankees, Giancarlo, we've seen a lot of this coming in for a while.

[00:32:10] Mark Corbett: He, he's been experiencing some difficulties for a while and you can't do what Gerritt Cole does for as long as he does it without seeing this coming. Mm-hmm. You know, they didn't get Juan Soto, but they took that money and gave it to Mr. Max Fried, and he is definitely gonna be able to help when it comes to pitching with that team.

[00:32:33] Mat Germain: He also has injury issues. Right, right. 

[00:32:37] Mark Corbett: Perfect fit for the Yankees. 

[00:32:39] Mat Germain: Yeah. So that's the, and I was listening to, uh, Jim Bowman go through this on your radio, and he's completely right. Like every guy on the roster has an issue, whether it's Marcus Stroman underperforming, whether it's um, Clark Schmidt, you know, not knowing what he's going to be able to provide and is he going to.

[00:32:59] Mat Germain: Go to improve or is he going to take a step backwards? Nobody really knows. Uh, max Fried has had a lot of, of health issues over time, and he's not, you know, a sure bet. I understand the, the skills there. I will never, you know, I. Go against that part of his game. But there's a reason the brave stepped away and didn't wanna amp up the ante to keep him.

[00:33:24] Mat Germain: Uh, a lot of times that has to do with injury issues. The Giants, the San Francisco Giants did the same thing with Carlos Rodón, and that's Sure. As the. When he got to the Yankees, he had injury issues again. So he's not a sherbet either. So the whole season, and I think, you know, that's part of why Brian ca Cashman isn't actually jumping on on a move right now.

[00:33:45] Mat Germain: He wants to know who falls on who falls off, because if, if so many guys fall off that it doesn't make sense to keep going for it, I think he has to sell some players at that point. 

[00:33:55] Mark Corbett: Yeah, 

[00:33:56] Mat Germain: he's gonna be, uh, trading at the deadline because their roster is nowhere near. Where it needs to be to be a playoff team in the a L East, I would put the Rays roster above theirs right now, for sure.

[00:34:10] Mat Germain: Without a doubt. And people that don't aren't paying attention, they really aren't because the Rays have the healthiest pitching going so far. Knock on wood, and they have, uh, the kind of, of lineup that is going to surprise a lot of people. And I say that because it's better balanced. They're not dealing with all the left-handed bad injuries that they dealt with last year to start the season.

[00:34:36] Mat Germain: And so that's going to give Kevin Cash a lot more, uh, balance to work with. And that's really all that held them back Last year, if they had that, you know, for the first two months they would've won 86 to 88 games and probably been in a playoff spot. So I think people are sleeping on the Rays more than than I can remember, and I don't understand really.

[00:34:58] Mat Germain: I. Why they just don't have any faith in their lineup whatsoever, for whatever reason. Uh, even though they still have Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lowe, and, and everybody, you know, Junior Caminero, who's a phenom coming up through, I mean, just those three alone should tell you you're gonna score a decent amount of runs.

[00:35:15] Mat Germain: Like, it's not gonna be a empty, you know, empty shell. Um, and they're, and they're willing at the same time to give all the credit in the world to the Jays who are dealing with their own injuries as well. Max Scherzer, who, who put up that great start early on. He's now making this next start because he has a thumb issue now.

[00:35:34] Mat Germain: He is as unsure as any of the Yankees pitchers that I just mentioned, right? Because of his age and, and the amount of innings that he has under his belt. But even beyond that, like, um, they, they had another, uh, injury issue. I think it was Alek Manoah who's out for the season and Eric Swanson.

[00:35:53] Mat Germain: So right there you have, you know, uh, I think. Alek Manoah could come back Midseason after the All-Star break. Uh, but Eric Swanson is, is also dealing with, and he's one of their most important relievers, right? Um, and then you move over to the Boston Red Sox, who we, we poured a lot of praise on the Red Sox, let's be honest.

[00:36:12] Mat Germain: Um, and Brayan Bello is having significant injury issues. He's not gonna be ready to, to start the season. I think they've held them back, is more than anything. So it's not a Gerritt Cole kind of thing. , but. He goes on the IL along with Crawford, Murphy, Sandoval, and now we're hearing that Lucas Giolito has a hamstring issue and he's getting an MRI.

[00:36:36] Mat Germain: So you know, all of a sudden you start going through these teams and their issues, and then we're not done. The, the Orioles have Grayson Rodriguez and Andrew Kittridge, uh, off for the first, you know, few months of the season. So. Looking at that entire bubble, you know, you're, you're thinking, you know, already the Orioles were without front end pitching for the most part.

[00:37:01] Mat Germain: Right. They're kind of, they're hoping Lin can do it. They're hoping Morton can help Gray, uh, GRayson out, but they're also getting longer in the tooth. And they're also, you know, um. They have a ceiling of some sort, right? They're not going to be the same kind of ace that they were hoping Grayson Rodriguez was gonna be.

[00:37:19] Mat Germain: So, and then on, on top of that, you put the Rays getting Shane McClannahan back. Yeah. So you have the reverse story for them. So Mark, I. I'm gonna have a, to really pen down, you know, and, and get my, uh, revised power rankings before the season starts, because I'm telling you, like, my head's on a swivel right now.

[00:37:42] Mat Germain: Going who's what, where, who's, who's hurt, who isn't, who's not bubble wrapped? I wanna know 

[00:37:50] Mark Corbett: Oh, oh, oh. No, man. That's, that's pretty good rundown, man. I tell you. Oh gosh. I do want, not today, but I do want to take a look back at your, your top 50 prospects at the end of the spring training season and see if you wanna pick maybe five or 10 of 'em to talk about, uh, since we've gotten through there.

[00:38:12] Mark Corbett: But it's coming back to the injuries. Yeah, man, I, I love the idea of seeing Shane come back and. It's, we actually have, knock on wood or whatever else you wanna knock on, but we've got good looking roster here. Got a healthy looking pitching team right now and seeing some of those familiar faces like Drew and other ones out there.

[00:38:33] Mark Corbett: It is, it's an exciting time for the Rays and as a team and as a fan. I'm looking forward to this, this season over George Steinbrenner. 

[00:38:42] Mat Germain: How great is it that they're sticking with Curtis Mead? Oh, they're giving them that extra shot, right? And they're giving them that, that playing time and they're being patient like, I don't remember the Rays being the most patient of teams in the past.

[00:38:56] Mat Germain: Right. Like I. They, they were a little bit gun ish, like in terms of if you perform you're this or that. So I, I am enjoying the fact that they gave 'em that second shot and it's working out well for 'em. Um, I don't know how the pen is gonna end up looking by the time they're done. I. And I think that's one of the major stories that's left.

[00:39:15] Mat Germain: But their roster is gonna be versatile. When you look at the bench, they're gonna have, I mean, Richie Palacios can play second in all the outfield spots, right? And they've said that they're going to use them in the outfield, Jose Caballero, they're gonna use 'em all over the infield and all over the outfield, all three spots.

[00:39:30] Mat Germain: So he's a six position guy, and he's looked great in center field. So when you have his speed and his versatility, that's a huge bonus for cash. So now. You have a left-handed guy that can do what Palacios can do. You have a right-handed guy that can do what Caballero can do. Well then your bench is, is really, you know, a great thing.

[00:39:52] Mat Germain: You add Curtis Mead onto that place first and third I. You've covered all the freaking bases and you got like a guy who can actually hit off the bench. So I like the way the bench is looking. I don't know who the backup catcher's gonna end up being. I think there's a chance that the Rays will make a move.

[00:40:10] Mat Germain: I. Um, some teams have had catcher injuries, maybe they'll dangle, uh, Ben Rortveldt to one of those, and then Logan Driscoll would get in there. I think they really liked what Logan Driscoll was able to do, so that's something to look for. I think the Rays will make one or two moves before the, I. Beginning of the season, they always seem to cash in on something and, and make a commitment that, uh, that needs to open some space up.

[00:40:35] Mat Germain: So you're gonna see some moves. Like I know Brian Cashman said he's not gonna fill that void right away, but if something comes up that opens up an opportunity, um, I think you'll see that. And I still. Believe Nolan Arenado may be a Yankee before it's all said and done. If they can figure out the cash aspect, uh, because they need a boost of morale.

[00:40:57] Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. And it's not gonna come from Aaron Boone. Oh, you know. Oh, he's not that kind guy. He's not a cheerleader. 

[00:41:07] Mark Corbett: No, no, he, he's, he's a little, he's the substitute on that, that, uh, particular category. Wow. Well, I don't know, man. I think, uh, like I said, it's gonna be an exciting season. I'm looking forward to seeing what these Rays are gonna be able to do, and I know that all the other fans out there as well.

[00:41:25] Mark Corbett: We spent a lot of time talking at the beginning about these three groups that are looking at the Rays. But eh, you know, at the end we just wanna go out there and see our team play. 

[00:41:34] Mat Germain: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. 

[00:41:37] Mark Corbett: Any other nuggets you wanna carry on with here today? Anything else you think we should touch on?

[00:41:43] Mat Germain: I think, um, always remember that Ha-Seong Kim is on his way. 

[00:41:48] Mark Corbett: Oh yeah. 

[00:41:49] Mat Germain: Right. I think that's the thing with the Rays also, like I mentioned, the people sleeping on the Rays and Danny Jansen and Kim Hasan Kim, once they're both healthy, they are going to significantly increase the offensive punch and consistency you have through the lineup and the better at bats and the more assured.

[00:42:10] Mat Germain: Play. Right. And I think with the pitching included in there, uh, the clutch abilities that Danny Jansen has in that lineup, I. I think the Rays are going to do some damage. Health willing, they're going to have a lot of fun. And if they get off to a hot start, probably not like the hottest one they had just a few years ago, but, uh, if they get to a hot start, that gives them that confidence.

[00:42:35] Mat Germain: They have the ability to add at the deadline, and they have the pieces in their, and then in their system coming up to support them at the same time. So it's a mean combination of things going on. Um. Wouldn't it be something if you get a new stadium, you get, you know, a playoff run and you maybe make it to the World Series in that same year?

[00:42:58] Mat Germain: Like those would be a trifecta that I think all Rays fans would enjoy a lot. 

[00:43:02] Mark Corbett: I'm looking forward to it, my friend. I. Yeah, I, I also wanna pause and thank the, uh, the good folks, the nurses and doctors. I have had to make a stop with their good friends over the Southern Florida Baptist Hospital this week, and everybody over there was great.

[00:43:18] Mark Corbett: So not necessarily a place you wanna spend any vacation time, but hey, you know, you got good folks, things work out. So thanks to them. And Mat. Like I said, I can't wait. Okay. Wait, just, what is it? Maybe? Is it two weeks before opening day? Yeah. 

[00:43:34] Mat Germain: Yeah. It's only two weeks, man. That's it. 

[00:43:36] Mark Corbett: Good Gravy.

[00:43:37] Mark Corbett: Let's have some fun folks. All right. RaysUp!. 

[00:43:43] Mat Germain: I 

[00:43:43] Mat Germain: like 

[00:43:43] Mat Germain: it. 

[00:43:44] Mark Corbett: Oh, thank y'all again for joining us here today, and we will talk with you again real soon.