The Rays go to College with a stadium in Tampa

Rays Stadium looking for a New Edge in Tampa with HCC

• Hillsborough Community College Board of Trustees approve MOU with Rays
• MOU is a non-binding framework to explore possibilities.
• Discussion of campus location and its proximity to:
  • Raymond James Stadium (Buccaneers)
  • Steinbrenner Field (Yankees)
  • Amalie Arena (Lightning)
• Community reactions, faculty concerns & housing cost questions.
• 180-day timeline for the Rays to return with details.
• Governor comments on infrastructure support (but not direct stadium funding)
• Why this site could help build a centralized Tampa sports district similar to Atlanta’s Battery

Transportation, Development & Big-Picture Vision

• Traffic & parking comparisons vs. Tropicana Field
• Transportation planning 
• Innovation Edge concept & mixed-use development potential
• Broader impact beyond baseball: events, tourism, NCAA tournaments, & international visibility
• Differentiating Tampa Bay from Orlando and other Florida destinations.

Rays FanFest Block Party (Valentine’s Day)

• FanFest to be held in the Parking Lot of the Tropicana Field outdoors
• Block Party - Free parking, block party atmosphere, and fan-player interaction.
• Favorite FanFest memories:  
  • Player scavenger hunts
  • Ping-pong with Rays player 
  • Photo ops with Blake Snell & Tyler Glasnow
• Fans will be excited to meet this year at FanFest: Gavin Lux, Junior Caminero, Yandy Díaz, Cedric Mullins, Steven Matz, Steven Wilson, Richie Palacios, & Justin Henry Malloy

Rays Roster & Player Development

• More “team-centric” Rays roster
• Ken Waldichuk - Pitch mix comparisons to Garrett Cleavinger
• Trade speculation: Johnny DeLuca, Taylor Walls, & White Sox connections

MLB Free Agency & Trades

• Cody Bellinger -  signs with the Yankees (5 years, $167M):
• Concerns about Cody's age, cost, & long-term value.
• Mets trade for Luis Robert Jr.:
  • Younger, cheaper, high-upside move
  • Risk-mitigated contract structure
• Why the Mets’ move may age better than the Yankees’
• Yankees’ roster flexibility and potential follow-up trades

Hall of Fame Talk

• Congrats to: Andruw Jones, Carlos Beltrán, Jeff Kent
• Rare moment: 2 elite center fielders entering together
• Looking to 2027 ballot: Buster Posey, John Lester, Chase Utley. Bobby Abreu
• Vote dynamics shift as names fall off the ballot

MLB Parity & CBA Discussion

• Tim Dierkes’ article:
   “MLB Parity Possible Without a Salary Cap” (MLB Trade Rumors)
  https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/author/tim-dierkes 
• Why this matters heading into the next Collective Bargaining Agreement

Final Thoughts

• Rays expectations may be more grounded than in recent years—but opportunity remains
• New ownership energy, patience in baseball operations & long-term vision
• The next 180 days could shape the future of baseball in Tampa Bay

Join the conversation!
Share your thoughts on the Rays, the stadium talks, FanFest, and MLB parity. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review BaseballBiz On Deck wherever you listen.

Rays Up!

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 Also you can find Mat at M-A-T-G-E-R-M-A-I-N dot B Sky social. That's Mat at M-A-T-G-E-R-M-A-I-N dot B, Sky social or Mark at  Baseball Biz on Deck dot B Sky Social and BaseballBiz On Deck with Facebook.

Transcript

334 BaseballBiz On Deck RaysUp Stadium

[00:00:00] 

Mat Germain: Right On!

Mark Corbett: Welcome to BaseballBiz on Deck and with a very special RaysUp edition. Mr. Mat Germain is here.

And I'm Mark Corbett and we're gonna have some fun today. How's it going Matt? 

Mat Germain: I'm living the dream mark and wishing the winter was over already ready for spring training. 

Mark Corbett: I am with you. I'm with you about the winter is over 'cause I'm seeing what's coming down in the south. You're up there in Dear Sweet North, but geez, we're, I'm looking up around Atlanta and some other places. What's coming through this next week? I keep thinking back to a few years ago when was, like ice sledding everywhere. So I don't know. It's gonna be a very interesting week for a lot of us down people in the south who aren't used to that kinda weather.

So we'll see what happens, but. There is the weather vein was twisting in Tampa the other day, and I got the notice that, guess what? The board of trustees at Hillsborough Community College, were going to talk about an MOU. And I thought, what's [00:01:00] something with cows? I don't know. Maybe there's an agricultural school.

No. Okay. What is that? It is a memorandum of understanding, which this is what's something the Rays, had put in front of the executive board or executive trustee board for Hillsborough Community College in regards to, Hey, let's have a con serious conversation about have having a space on your campus.

And so nothing set Boys and Girls. Mat sung that song so many times. But I have to tell you, Mat,, it was great to get the news. I got the news on, what was it? MLK day? No. I think it was the day after MLK that the actual news went out. 'cause it was like that morning. And so I got in the car, hustled down to the campus to be at the trustees meeting and it started at four o'clock and it was done at 4:30.

Don't you like meetings like that? How many times have we sat in the meeting? You and I both have worked in corporate and such, and where you're like, [00:02:00] good Lord I was pulling teeth. Can they ever shut up? It's been done well, I. This was, it was a foregone conclusion with this meeting many ways, but it was still good to see Ken Babby get out there and speak.

It was interesting as I pulled up to the building to go in there and I'm getting outta the car and I look behind me and I see , the shadow of Raymond James Stadium back there, man, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And then I look to the other side and I say. Dang. There's George Steinbrenner Stadium, and five minutes earlier I'd pass what I'd pass not the Amalie arena anymore, whatever they call it, to the the Bancroft where the Lightning play.

So I. This has been such a central apex in Tampa for so many teams. I am excited about seeing the rays there. And after seeing that view going into that session I expected great things to come now as in many of these meetings before they make a judgment and say the board [00:03:00] votes yay or nay on moving forward to accept the memorandum of understanding.

Basically say, Hey, let's have a conversation there. You have people speak, anybody wants to come. First they allow the students to speak and there were no students. There were no students. The place was, yeah, it was chock full of media folks, you couldn't help a trip over course and cameras and people with microphones everywhere.

But I had to think about it, man. One, it's the day after MLK day. Students are just getting back in there too. If the news didn't get out to that morning, maybe many of 'em didn't care too because it is a junior college, it's where you get your associate's degree or your getting your electives taken care of or whatever at that point.

I don't know. I don't wanna disregard what the kind of C college does 'cause I've been there and I've taken classes there. But I don't think there's the involvement of students that you would think that there might be with something like this going on. 

Mat Germain: Or they weren't told. 

Mark Corbett: Or they weren't told.

That's what I'm thinking. It's [00:04:00] too, 'cause if the news went out Tuesday morning and, 'cause I just came across it looking at Facebooks, oh yeah, I better get down there. You know what they. It may have not been promoted much and maybe 'cause it was a foregone conclusion. However, they did allow staff and employees to speak out.

And one of the people, I believe it was a professor, he had some concerns because of all the students who actually reside down there and talking about with this new development, there may be housing, but what the, what's the cost gonna be like? And I got news for you man. Matt, cost of living in Tampa is stupid.

It's crazy high. And if they're going through the housing they have there, I can't imagine, that they're already paying a lot. I'm not saying that it wouldn't be an increased burden . I, but I felt like it was a non argument, if you will. Another [00:05:00] gentleman got up there and he spoke of, so I think it was George, I can't Joe's last name at the moment. He got up there was from West Tampa and he had a lot to share as well and he was, he had said, west Tampa is a baseball town. It's he didn't say necessarily the cradle of baseball around here, but when you look at everybody who's come from West Tampa.

The Ybor area, whether it be Lou Pinella, Al Lopez, David Magadan Tino Martinez, Luis Gonzalez. He goes on Peter Lon. Peter Alonso, not actually West Tampa, but he's, from the general area there as well. So he talked about how things have been strong in Tampa that this need to be done.

Let's see here. I did wanna look what's coinciding with this map. Now you and I have been talking with recently about Kaufman Stadium and what was going also on with the Kansas City Chiefs and one maybe the tandem with the other. So in today's Tampa Bay Times,[00:06:00] 

there's an article. Hillsborough County approves Tampa Bay Lightning. County will be putting 250 million in a commitment for renovations to the arena, and that's gonna be drawing that from their tourist development tax. Lightning will be putting up an additional 75 million for. Taking care of that arena.

Now, if that doesn't sound like, some sweet money. Yep. I don't know what we'll see from our good friends at if they're gonna give the Rays. Now some are saying this doesn't indicate anything else. But if you look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Raymond James Stadium, their lease is expiring in 2028.

And I guarantee to you. They're gonna be talking about getting some money there as well. Yeah. So some natives may be saying, I don't know if this is what I want to do. I don't know if this is where I wanna be with all this. We're, as far as tax dollars being [00:07:00] spent, here's one for you. The governor I had did not realize that the governor had played baseball for Yale.

Mat Germain: Oh, yeah. I had no 

idea either. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah he had something to say. He said they wouldn't be financing the stadium. He said, you could draw 25,000 in this area with the right circumstances. He was going on about that. It could be a good venue. But if you're starting to do that, then all of a sudden, the viability of everything really goes up.

He went on about the big markets about how the Dodgers have got so much this and that and the other. And wouldn't it be nice if the Rays to be able to drive at least like 25,000 there? It could happen, but I'm throwing a lot at you there, Matt. 'cause it was interesting that, but kinda critically at the end of it all, the executive trustees on the executive board up there decided yes.

We agree to the memorandum of understanding the MOU and we wanna go ahead and move forward. And the Rayss responded, saying, great, and [00:08:00] when are you, but when are you gonna have something to us? You, they asked the Rays and said, 180 days we should have things. And they talk about the CCR the covenants conditions, the restrictions, all of that, the things they have to go through.

So we will see that. But it is, it's. My mind was floating everywhere. 'cause I hear CCR, and the first thing my mind goes to is John Fogerty. Okay. And 

yeah, 

treat it center field. But so what happens on my drive back from there, I turn on NPR and they got the Tiny desk concert and it's John Fogerty.

And I said, oh, I don't know, but it was a, it was an ex. Exciting day. A bit of an inspiring day. A lot of talk, even the mayor, they were asking her a few thing or two and somebody said traffic's so bad. And she said, we've managed traffic pretty well down there. And I can tell you've been going to that NFL game a couple weeks ago down at the Raymond [00:09:00] James that, yeah, it takes a little while to get out of there, but it really wasn't that bad.

It was. Less, I don't want oppressive is the word really to use for Tropicana parking, but it was less negative than when I'm at getting in and outta the trop because that can be something 

Mat Germain: yeah. I think that the important part here is to set the stage for what is an MOU?

So you're talking about students, these are one of the things that you'll learn about in business school. Like what? What is it that you're actually talking about when you're talking about a memorandum of understanding, which is what's happening in this case? It's basically the foundation, the first step that you and the rays have done this numerous times so far.

When it comes to MOUs, they had numerous of them with St. Petersburg right before they got towards agreements, which they eventually did sign with St. Petersburg. So before we get way too excited about. Anything, we have to know what that means. So memorandum of [00:10:00] understanding is an agreement where they basically lay out who's gonna be responsible for what as they mutually cooperate towards something to be agreed upon.

So it's not binding by any means for anyone. It just basically says, okay. When it comes to plumbing, you're in charge. When it comes to this. You're in charge when it comes to, and it lays down all the little particular details including the potential funding avenues that they may have in this case.

And I think it's important because this one is Big Mark, like you're talking about a football team, like you mentioned, you're talking about a minor league team that's there that's owned by the Yankees, that has to get sorted out at some time. There's a lot of. Chess pieces that need to be played for everything to work out. And every single one of those parties will have, like you mentioned, the school will have a, an idea of what the critical aspects for them are. The business side will have which stores which [00:11:00] additions, restaurants, all the kinds of things that you would want to have.

In a battery park. So development area, like everybody's gonna have their own version of their heads, so they're gonna have to like, argue a little bit about what's going to get played where Oh yeah. And how big it's going to be. And the transport is a big one. So I know in Montreal, when you're talking about the stadium potentially going in and getting built on the south shore of the island of Montreal, one of the big things that came out was that they didn't want to have a significant amount of parking there. They wanted people to have to be either driven in by subway, bus, taxi, biking, walking, any kind of transport except for vehicles as much as they could. Yeah. So that it would alleviate a lot of the traffic issues you're talking about.

But I know you guys don't have a Subway in Tampa, it's one of those things where. I think the investments in transportation have been significant and they can be focused in certain ways that kind of help things out. So I, [00:12:00] yeah. I'm really excited for you guys because I do think there's something to be said about having as.

Centralized sports venue area. An events venue like this isn't only gonna help baseball, it's not it's gonna help the rays become part of the conscience of the same fans that go to Buccaneers games as the same fans that go to Lightning games and to become, and to start to build this sports culture in Tampa that also allows for events to take place there.

So we talk about. I don't want to say that Tampa Bay would host the Summer Olympics, but if you did head that way down the road at some point in time, or a similar style competition, you could feasibly bid on it. Now because you've got a whole bunch of facilities co-located, you've got the ability to handle a significant amount of

fans yada. yada. yada. I think Tampa Bay [00:13:00] does have the chance to become an internationally known city if it wants to head that direction down the road. So it's not, I don't see it just as a Rays thing. It also starts to differentiate Tampa Bay from Orlando as a destination. So when you're talking about Battery park and what it does for Atlanta, the same could be said for Tampa Bay.

If you have the aquarium, you have this, that, the other thing that you guys do have as attractions, and then you add this as a venue where there's always an event going on of some sort. It attracts a lot more people to your coast because for any Canadian that travels down to Florida, you have people that are Fort Lauderdale centric and will stay on the Southern tip. You have people that will stay on the East Coast and then you have the people that will stay on the West Coast and there's almost like three different distinct versions of Canadians. And then you have the ones that are just going there for Disney in that one year, whatever.

So I think it, it's interesting to know like that kind of development to me can help differentiate [00:14:00] Tampa Bay from all of those eastern Florida cities. By making it one of those bigger event areas. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. It is. It's going to be neat to see that. And, you bring up, as far as like the folks who come down here from Canada and.

My mind's jumping, we'll come right back to MOU, but I'm thinking about the world baseball classy coming up. There's gonna be an exhibition game in Dunedin where the Blue Jays had their spring training, and the Blue Jays are gonna be playing Canada. They're gonna be playing the Canada team. That's be interesting looking across and see you're playing.

But coming back to what you're saying as far as Yeah. The, be able to have this, one of the people were talking about the everything here with Hills Hillsborough Community College with this, that. It is making it a destination, making it a sports destination. And there already have the women's, I think, NCAA championship where basketball has been here in the past.

There's with the Lightning and other tournaments coming through. I can tell you, working at the [00:15:00] museum, I'll be there and suddenly there'll be somebody from Colorado and I'm like. Curious. I ask 'em always where they came from and what brought 'em in. There's this lacrosse tournament from the NCAA going, I thought, what, there's so much, there, there's, and this is, I can see only as a way to increase that activity.

Even more so as far as economically doing better. I, and it seems like a, it seems like they're on a good gr good groundwork here to begin with. And quite honestly. Matt, one of the things that's part of the solution, I mentioned Ron DeSantis, he is a supporter of the Rays, but he's not gonna be putting bucks up.

He said he would do stuff as far as infrastructure. Anything else that they could help with, he would do that. So that wasn't, good to hear, but it's not surprising the governor has placed people in colleges across Florida. I'm not gonna get into the politics of that. I'll just say in this particular instance.

I am okay with it. [00:16:00] 

Mat Germain: I just, I go back to the whole Stu Sternberg versus your governor. Oh gosh. In terms of a political, the animosity that existed because of personal beliefs and a whole bunch of other issues. Yeah. So that doesn't exist. So it opens the door for so much more to be done for the Rays in this case as part of this development.

So it's nice to see that. It's sad that it couldn't be done the other way. And I say it's sad. It doesn't really understand doesn really matter to us who, which, who owns the team when it happens, right? But I do think that in this case, like the whole. Concept and the idea of what they're working towards makes a whole lot more sense.

I still like the design of the stadium in Ybor. I don't know what that development would've looked like, but I hope that they go for a stylish, distinct stadium. Yeah. When we start seeing drawings so that it does stand out as an architectural piece. 

Mark Corbett: I think they'll do that. I know they wanna make this a place where people wanna come [00:17:00] and, let's see.

Oh. If I can bring that up. One of the things was that I was looking at, let's see, they're calling the, they're calling part of this, the Innovation Edge, and I'm trying to find the breakdown here. Gimme a moment while I'm looking for that, it is interesting to note that I think the folks with the Orlando Dreamers are probably gonna have to wait a 

while.

Geez.

Mat Germain: But again, mark, like I think there's an opportunity for a second league. Yeah, I really do. And I think that we're up to 14, 15 teams, maybe even 16, that you could have. People bid on, and I don't know if they start it themselves and they come up with their own governance, or if they do it as part of MLB.

Whichever way works best. I think the stadiums are, like, you're talking about the 25,000, right? The bar has been set so low when it comes to attendance now. You could almost run this new league if they don't do blackouts [00:18:00] and they allow people to watch it and they can insert a few of the the rules that the, that MLB wants to try.

That then, and see how they work out. They could become the testing grounds of that, but they would be professional. They wouldn't be subjugated to the same, minor league system that takes in place right now. I think there's a viable thing for that, like the, just listing the cities and the ownership groups that would be a part of it.

It would be a very competitive and enticing league for a lot of players who aren't getting paid very much by MLB teams to jump to. Like right now we're looking at a list of free agents that aren't gonna make much. A lot of times these players are signing triple A deals that are not worth. Yeah, for them, their time.

Why not go to a team that's actually a professional that has the chance to become an MLB team the next season and be a full part of the core of that team and get the playing time, TV time, et cetera, that you wouldn't have gotten down in [00:19:00] Triple A. I don't see why they wouldn't do that, mark.

It would bring so much more attention and coverage, like you're talking about fans and how far they have to travel to go to a certain, level of playing game. This would help with all that, right? And give teams some, another team to cheer for. I just see only positives, to be honest.

I don't understand why it wouldn't happen. 

I

Mat Germain: like the idea of what you're saying though, too, as far as another league, if you will. I enjoy, I talk about going to spring training, but also enjoy watching the matter leagues here to be able to see a professional team where I'm not gonna have to spend a hundred dollars to go through the gate and, for each person. That's something I can enjoy, something where I can sit back, relax and see somebody that's hungry, somebody who wants to make it to the show. And that is important to me. So I, I like that idea a lot. We'll see what the dreamers do.

And I'm going to be curious, 'cause I mean you brought this up [00:20:00] time and time again on the show about the whole thing. What kind of deal the Yankees and Rays will have to work out if they're gonna be moving over here. What what, go ahead and talk about a couple of the options. Potential trades.

Exactly. So it depends on what the intent for the the Yankees would be. Obviously they don't use the Steinbrenner field area simply for. The single a affiliate that they have there. They also use it as their spring training destination. So with that in mind, I thought that, if you're gonna be leaving the Trop and you're gonna be leaving St.

Petersburg area, maybe St. Petersburg wants to adopt the Yankees as their, the team that they have in terms of a focus on it. The like smaller scaled version of what they would've done with the Rayss, essentially. So then it would become the focal point of that area. They'd have their spring training facility there.

That might be a tougher sell for St. Petersburg because it's not as flashy and high, attractive. So I don't know how much they would be in, [00:21:00] in play on that. The other version is that the Rays ownership have two franchises that they could pick from so they could. Theoretically give them access to the Jacksonville team.

And move that AAA affiliate somewhere else, depending on how they work it. It could be Orlando as where the dreamers want to have a team, et cetera. And then you have the Yankees build up their spring training, facilities in that Jacksonville franchise.

Location, or there's Akron, but that's not a spring training destination. So I see it more likely as Jacksonville being the one. So at that point, you have to evict and come to an agreement with the Marlins at the same time in terms of where they're gonna go. So then, okay, then now you're like, okay, the Marlins can go into the Trop, area and become that point.

So there's a whole merry-go-round of the possibilities between St. Pete, Orlando, Jacksonville. And come to an agreement where everybody's happy. I don't [00:22:00] think the Yankees, yeah, I know they're embedded in Tampa Bay, and that's probably part of the problem in my opinion. Yeah. With the whole fandom of of rays basically.

Maybe that this last year where they invited the rays to, or they profited, I should say, from the rays playing in their Steinbrenner or stadium. 'cause the Rays did have to pay them for it. Maybe that opened the door for this to be a lot smoother than it would otherwise would've been.

But I'm glad that it's actually, it seems to be headed that way. 

Mark Corbett: I just spin up here real quickly. I showed it earlier innovation edge. That's part of what they were talking about with talking quickly back to HCC. There's all kinds of stuff. I'll put some of it up on Blue Sky and elsewhere, but I wanna talk now.

Matt, we got fan fest coming up here. Valentine's Day, man. This is it, brother, this is the year. It's funny, I would mention to governor, one of the things he was talking about was looking to see a successful team. He wasn't calling us out over the last few years, but [00:23:00] nonetheless, it was interesting.

So are they 

Mat Germain: hosting it in the Trop? 

Mark Corbett: They are hosting it in the Trop and around the tr Well, 

Mat Germain: this is the number one issue. The one thing. I want Mark is a picture of the roof and I want to know, does it look as dirty as it used to look? That's the number one thing I wanna know. 

Mark Corbett: Hopefully with the new paneling up there, that will that will not 

Mat Germain: be the case.

A clean white, 

Mark Corbett: yeah. Yep. So yeah, there's a, there's the image of where it's gonna be held. The fanfest shows you where the different lots and sets of parking, free parking and a block party. So it looks like some of it's gonna be outside Sweet. Yeah. Outside of Tropicana Field. I'm looking forward to that.

I'm definitely gonna be over, I went ahead to get my tickets and, yeah. 

Mat Germain: No, that's a good time. I've seen a lot of the things that they do there. Normally you can play ping pong with the players. You could do a whole bunch of different things that if you're a [00:24:00] kid, like I, I never had access to players like this when I was growing up.

I think it's great that that they. Allow for this kind of event to take place. I know not everybody can make it, but definitely encourage everybody that can. Yeah. Get head out there. Go see what it's all about. 

Mark Corbett: I can tell you, but Karen and I went to one at the Trop and we got our photos taken with.

Blake and Tyler. Blake's Snell and Tyler Glasnow. And that was just the treat in itself. Then there was another time I was out there and they had a player scavenger hunt. So they got two players on top of this small stage, about three feet. Four feet tall, about four feet, and they are asking people different things they might have, and they have to, the players have to try to get 'em for those people as quickly as possible.

So Pete's up on this four foot stage and he's up for the mic and he asks for something and somebody pulls their hand out and he leaps from that stage. I thought, oh my gosh. Please stay safe. Please stay safe. But the energy he brought there, I [00:25:00] always thought of him as this guy with such intense vision or a demeanor when he's on the mound.

But he was a big, playful kid. When at that FanFest, as you were saying, some of 'em were even playing ping pong with other, the youngsters, it was a blast to watch. 

Mat Germain: You get to see, you know how awestruck a lot of the kids are around them too. And sometimes a lot of the adults are even more awestruck. 

Mark Corbett: Oh yeah.

So 

Mat Germain: it's fun to see that part too. Everybody becomes a kid again. 

Mark Corbett: Should be a lot of fun, my friend. But what is that team gonna look like now? 

Mat Germain: Oh man. That's a big question. So that, that leads into the moves that have been recently made, right? 

Mark Corbett: Yep. 

Mat Germain: An interesting comment was made because Cody Bellinger finally Cho chose the Yankees as his destination.

He's getting paid a handsome amount, 167 million over five years. Yeah, that's a lot of money to send to a 31-year-old. Its [00:26:00] center fielder, and I don't know how that. How that ends. I do know Cody Bellinger has a history of having played first base. So if ever he had to shifting there. But then does he just become another DJ LeMahieu who ends up riding off into the sunset while gathering millions for not playing for the Yankees.

Oh, another one on that. Anyways. But the interesting part is that immediately as that, or I should say almost at the same time, 'cause they must have chosen them, we don't know when the phone calls were made and the decisions were made. But at the same time, the Mets traded for Louis Robert Jr.

From the Chicago White Sox. So they basically both targeted an outfielder of significance. It seems to me like the Mets finally drew us line the sand with Cody Bellinger in terms of the amount of money they were gonna throw at him. I think the right because I'll go through them numbers, like just to lay it out in terms of basic terms.

And I like to use both of them are, they're within two years of each other. Luis Robert Jr is 28, so [00:27:00] there's not much difference between the two. But Luis Robert is making 20 million in 2026. Cody Bellinger is gonna make 32.5 million. Plus a 20 million signing bonus, right? So right there, one's making 52 and a half million this year.

The other one's making 20. So just to start from there. And I'm only gonna compare the two years that Luis, Robert is controlled for. I'm not even gonna look at the other three years that Cody Ballinger is gonna get paid obscene amounts of money. But the So Luis Robert, for next year, for 2027. Can also make another 20 million.

Whereas Cody Bellinger is gonna make 32 and a half million dollars that year. So combined, you're looking at 85 million that the Yankees are going to pay for Cody Bellinger over the next two years. Compared to 20 minimum that or 22 million minimum. Because if the Mets buy out Luis Robert Jr, it's gonna cost them [00:28:00] $2 million.

But if they de, he does well and they decide to keep 'em, they have the option to keep him for 20 million. So it's a good. Risk mitigation for the Mets to say let's see how he shows up this year. Make him earn it, and then they get it. So to me, they get a more assurance that Luis Robert, first of all two years younger, is still gonna be in a good, physical state to be able to perform.

 I think like when you're looking at the upgrade that he's going to be, instead of Tyrone Taylor, it's a really significant upgrade for them in center field. So it's another great ad after the Bobette one. Like just looking at how far away it is from his best season, right? So 2023, he hit 38 home runs and stole 20 bases.

He had an 8 57 OPS. If he gets anywhere near there with the Mets this upcoming year, they're going to the playoffs and they're gonna do some damage. Like he's a really strong player now. He's had two lackluster seasons after that. I think it's more [00:29:00] team related than it is. Him related, but there's also been a few injuries in there as well that have slowed him down on both occasions.

You could go either way. I don't think it's an attitude problem. I've never seen him demand a trade or, and he had all rights to do it because that team's been going through a ringer basically for the last two years. But even though everybody else was getting traded, he stayed quiet, did his job, stuck around, never really demanded anything.

So I think it's a good grab for the Mets. I think the Yankees look completely desperate and they haven't really still gotten any better. 'cause now they're just back to where they were. When the off season started when it comes to having Cody Bellinger or board. But they had to do it. They had to bring him back and it seems like a lot of the players getting deals right now are the ones that forced the teams to say you have to do something.

And then so basically they accepted the deals that were out there. But yeah I think when you're looking at those two teams. [00:30:00] It's interesting that both of those moves happen concurrently and then I think it, it helps the Mets more than just the Yankees who are treading water. 

Mark Corbett: And you talk about, how they've had the heavy weight of something like LaMahieu, you know him around him there and, it just seems like a, an antique team. We see that we've seen Giancarlo Stanton they needed some vibrancy. So maybe this will be part of the equation of nothing else.

Just kinda a new energy for the fan base as well. 'cause I think a lot of people were looking at Brian Cashman and saying, what's you gonna do? 

Mat Germain: Yeah, definitely. And I don't know that there are other moves, like the Yankees have surprised us on occasion with a trade, right? Yeah. I think that there is the opportunity now for them to say, okay, we brought Cody back, we've got that done.

What does that do to our finances? Who do we want to go grab now in trade? And there's time, before the season [00:31:00] starts. And even when it does to go and get that big piece I don't I doubt it would be pitching wise 'cause they have enough of it, like starting pitching wise. Because they have enough of it coming back from an injury that they can't bring in too many guys.

Yet but I do think that you'll, you might see them make a significant roster move where they sort out another, so now they've brought in Cody, does that force a trade of one of their outfielders, to the young ones? It be. Yeah. 'cause then it opens the door for a significant piece to come back in the other way.

Mark Corbett: Now that we see what everybody else is doing, no, those are some big moves. I'm really looking forward seeing how Luis Robbert does. He's, I've always liked him. I thought he, I'm almost like a quiet player in many ways. He's, I've never thought him as one of these robust people who get out there and just throwing, not a Tommy Pham, so to speak.

And, but we'll see. I'm looking [00:32:00] forward. How he performs there as well. But I keep looking at our Rays roster from last year, Mat and I'm seeing Lowe & Lowe 

Mat Germain: So the, I that's, I forgot why I even brought it up in terms of, after all those moves were made, Chris Getz said that they're going to make a significant amount of moves now that they've cleared up the money from Louis Robert Jr.

I have a hunch they're gonna come asking for Johnny DeLuca. I think that he would be a perfect replacement for Louis Robert Jr. For the White Sox. 

Mark Corbett: Yes. 

Mat Germain: I think that there's an opportunity for them to pause. Potentially as for Taylor Walls as they wait for one of their top prospects to arrive.

I think there's a significant number of moves that I could see the White Sox and Rays lining up on. So I don't know which one is gonna be accurate. I do think the Rays want to clear up some outfields even beyond Josh Lowe. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: The Lowes are gone. Who is the one player that's newly added that you would be interested in meeting at Fan [00:33:00] Fest?

Mark Corbett: Did we got Gavin Lux, didn't we? 

Mat Germain: Yep. Gavin Lux wants to see. I would 

Mark Corbett: like to see him. I, 'cause I, he's had an interesting past and I'm wanna see what he's gonna be with the Rays. He's the one, I for one reason or another. He's the one that pops the top of mind. There's a lot of interesting players coming in, but he's the first one I think.

Mat Germain: Yeah, there's a there's a good amount of and the reason I ask is because Pete Fairbanks was always a character, right? Oh yeah. He was always somebody that fans gravitate, gravitated to. And I don't, I know Junior Caminero is one right now of the standing players that'll gra everybody will gravitate to 'cause he has a loud personality and an aura

Yandy Diaz is another one that fans will gravitate to. 'cause they recognize him, they know him. He's been there for years. But of the guys that they brought in, I don't wanna say that there's a lot of vanilla but there's none of them that stand out as like loud and, eccentric or [00:34:00] unique in a lot of different ways that we know of yet they may grow into those roles, I don't know.

But it seems to me like it's going to be a good time to rub shoulders with them a little bit and see what their actual personalities are. Like if you're going to FanFest 

Mark Corbett: , I, Cedric Mullins, I was a fan of his, years ago with the Orioles and as we had Nathan Andruws on here recently for full count chaos.

It's, he's waned, I don't know. But we talked before about having him as a veteran and then I thought it was funny too, the the scenario with Jake Fraley. We had him and we didn't, and then we brought him back. But, now I still see they say I don't, vanilla may not be the word like you said, but I, there's nothing here jumping out at me.

There's not the kind of energy as a personality that some of the ones we just mentioned, I don't see a will Adamas, I don't see a Tommy Pham, the type individual, 

Mat Germain: right. Richie Palacios is one that, that might be a little fun and animated to, to talk to. And Jacob Melton. [00:35:00] Maybe, yeah.

He would be like one of the younger individuals they've brought in. I don't, I haven't seen an interview with Ryan Vilade yet, or, what his personality type is like. They also acquired another guy called Justin Henry. Justin Henry Malloy. I don't know if he'll be at FanFest, but he's the one that's that has an extreme power bat.

That, could play a big role in the outfield in that first base eventually. So seek him out. Steven Matz is another veteran that they're, that they brought in probably more of a new face that, that fans aren't used to seeing. At Ray Fan Fest and Steven Wilson. You know how the Rays brought in a few veteran relievers over the years to keep everybody calm and yeah.

Allow some Tom Foolery to happen in the pen. He seems to be like one of those type of guys that they've brought in and they brought him in from the White Sox. I believe so. He's one of those guys that that could end up, being a little bit of a fool out there in fan fest. 

Mark Corbett: I'm looking forward to it.

It should be a [00:36:00] great event, curious since it is gonna be outdoors. There's obviously, who knows what Weather's gonna let us do, but I'm sure the rays have got that figured out pretty well. But I was hoping that we'd be able to go inside and see it and quite honestly knew that wasn't gonna happen.

Knowing that we've got, what, eight games on the road before we have opening day and, yep. Geez. They wanna make sure that it is perfect for they, before we step in there for them. So I'm looking forward to that. Yeah. Yep. 

Mat Germain: The last player I'll mention is Ken Waldichuk And I'll mention just a little bit about his profile a little bit.

So for guys that don't know Waldichuk's about two to three inches taller than Garrett Clevinger. But he throws from the same arm angle, so I don't know what that'll do for his pitch profile in terms of being a bit higher than Garrett Clevinger. Pitch mix wise, they could not be different. More different.

And I wonder if the rays are going to ask him to introduce [00:37:00] slash change his pitch profile to be a little bit closer to what Garrett Clevinger offers. Because it's a, they're both throwing from a 34 degree angle. I think that Clevinger is more of a sinker, slider pitcher. And Ken Waldichuk is actually a fastball slash curve slash changeup.

I'm really curious to see how they alter his AR arsenal if they keep him in as a starter. 'cause he throws about 93, 94 miles an hour as a starter. Can he get to 97, which is where Gar Clevinger operates as a starter. There, there's a good chance he could get at least 96. 97 depends on how much he wants to push it.

And again, if he's only throwing his fastball like Clevinger does, which is about 12% of the time, probably he can push it to that much because he is not doing that the rest of the time. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So Ken Waldichuk is one of those guys that'll be interesting to see when spring training starts.

You know how they've asked him to alter his, it's pitch mix [00:38:00] and and what they'll have 'em focus on for this upcoming season. The rays the one thing they always do is bring in a lot of talent and then just see how it goes and decide to ride which horses they're gonna ride into the season.

Mark Corbett: I'm looking forward to seeing all of 'em and anybody who can do anything like Clevinger does, I am certainly excited about that. He's always been one of my favorite pitchers to watch out there on the mound and exciting stuff. Big man. Now that Waldichuk didn't have the say, oh my gosh.

It's, but the, I don't know if he has the girth of Clevinger. I look at somebody like Clevinger, I figure my gosh, I always thinking how much how much is on that frame as far as the power that comes out from behind it.

Mat Germain: Yeah. I wish that they would weigh players when they walk onto the field, like boxing and they announce it, and then this corner.

So as a, and when a reliever comes on the field, they could say, and in this corner [00:39:00] weighing 245 pounds, and they run onto the field. And you can have a whole song the way that they, the whole time that they run on. But the the weights definitely are not right. 'cause you're right, when you're looking at some of these pictures and how they throw, they're definitely way heavier than than the stat sheet will say, 

Mark Corbett: oh yeah.

Man. No, I, it's it is gonna be interesting, Mat. I can't wait to go out there in Valentine's Day and see what the team looks like, see the excitement. I know that Ken Babby, you don't even see him there at the trustee meeting of the day and talking for a few minutes. The energy, the positivity that he's bringing in there.

I, I. I think that's gonna be a trademark, continue to be a trademark with the Rays. I don't think it was really lacking, underneath to the the energy of the players and the team itself. Some people are quick to judge the last couple of seasons of the Rays and expect more and I think. Kevin might be on the Broer a little bit more this year than he is in the past. Kevin Cash, [00:40:00] managing the team may be under a bit more scrutiny, so I dunno, is he the longest tenured team manager right now? 

Mat Germain: If he's not, he's definitely one of the top two or three. Yeah. Yeah. But I think he might be the longest tenured one and honestly, I don't know, like new ownership, it's always easier to start making those kinds of changes when after they come in.

But from what we've been told so far, they're not gonna get involved in baseball operations. That's right. They're gonna let Eric Neander if anybody's gonna wear it first it would be Eric Neander. And I think he's signed for a pretty decent amount of time, so I don't anticipate any issues on that front.

They'll be pretty patient, I think, with how things are gonna go. You're looking at, you're reading the tea leaves of the AL East, it's going to be a dog fight, regardless of what they do. They could go out and sign every free agent that's left and they would still, have a hard time competing with the AL East.

The way that it's shaping out to be, so I think a lot of [00:41:00] things are gonna have to be team centric, right? You saw how the Blue Jays came together last year and really you could feel that rhythm that the team was in where they were supporting each other. They were into every moment and kind of pulling.

There was always somebody showing up at the great moment, at the right time. That's what you need to win baseball games and the Rays. Thankfully build that team concept from the bottom up and they're able to put that into the players regardless. So no doubt in my mind they'll fight as much as they can.

But yeah, I don't know what to, I talking to people online about what to expect this year. I think it might be the lowest that I've felt it since 2018. In terms of expectations? 

Mark Corbett: Oh, expectations. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. I feel like they know, like fans and analysts and everybody are on board now. Like before it was just the analyst under rating the Rays, right?

For example, now I think everybody's kinda say, [00:42:00] yeah, maybe they're not under rating the year Rays this year. Maybe it actually is the Rays, needing to take a breath before they, they move forward basically. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yeah. I get that. You and I have said it before, it's they're just not paying attention to the Rays.

We're a small market and they're just not paying attention to this team. And, but yeah. After the last couple of seasons, criticism they have may sting a little bit more, but also because they probably have a little more veracity through the analysis of, of the team. So we will see, I, don't wanna think about rebuild years.

I would like to see a strong team. We're gonna see what this is gonna be like. We know trades happen. We know the players come and go. We know Shane McClannahan the future of what he's able to do for this team. It, can make a big difference this year. I, I don't know, we'll, we will see what happens with it, so I'm excited about it, my friend.

But what else we have on the agenda today? 

Mat Germain: Today we had that and the M-L-B-T-R. We've talked a lot [00:43:00] about the other thing is who got into the Hall of Fame? Yeah. Very happy that Andruw Jones, Carlos Beltrán and that Jeff Kent will share the stage. It's an interesting mix of players but two center fielders, which you don't see.

I don't think, I can't speak to have done the history bid on, on, but I imagine there hasn't been an often where you have two center fielders getting in at the same time. So it's just fitting that their stats are so similar and they're getting in at the same time, having been in that same era. I don't know if Carlos Pal Beltran will speak any Spanish at all on stage, but the hall of fame is always better the more that the story gets told. So I'm glad somebody is getting in. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: I'm glad that important people of that era are getting in and are gonna tell different stories about, first of all you have an East Coast guy, an Andruw Jones. You have a West Coast and Toronto, New York guy and Jeff Kent, and now you have [00:44:00] Carlos Beltrán, which almost did the entire country.

So you've got a good mix of coverage in terms of fans that'll want to pay attention to, what's being said, there's a lot of, people that didn't really like, especially in the media, I think Jeff Kent, and how he interacted with them. It's a validation of his playing time instead of his personality, which I also like.

So there's, it proves the concept that what they have as a fail safe for the voting is working and getting some of these players recognized how they should have been. And I took a quick peek at the 2027 class Mark. And it's interesting what it does for next year. 'cause whenever you scratch people off the list, everybody else gets a little bit of a benefit and a little bit of a boost the following year, right?

So you're adding Buster Posey, John Lester Brett Gardner, Ryan Zimmerman, . And Irvin Santana and as Asdrúbal Cabrera Francisco Rodriguez as well. So you're [00:45:00] adding some players that are, they're gonna be first ballot and gone.

The other ones though, like John Lester is a really interesting one 'cause he's the same case as Andy Pettitte. Right where the glory of what he did in the playoffs. Yeah. And battling cancer as well, and doing a whole bunch of things on that front in terms of a health scare that he had.

I don't know how much play he will get. It seems to me like Chase Utley is almost an automatic next year, and Bobby Abreu could get a significant boost as well from from some of the others that fell off. So he will get a closer look I think for next year's percentages.

Mark Corbett: It's interesting, especially when you're looking at Beltran and Jones and you're saying maybe there's a kind of balance in their numbers there that come in together. And so if one of 'em got in and the other one didn't, people can't be, Brouhaha about, that's terrible that he did this much better of, whatever infinitesimal amount it might be.

So I'm glad to hear they both came in together like that. That's great. 

Mat Germain: That's great. So the last thing that I thought that we should touch [00:46:00] on is that the M-L-B-T-R, I'm just gonna tell everybody go check it out. Tim Dierkes https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/author/tim-dierkes wrote an article about how he feels, essentially, he said he's using his platform to his benefit in this case.

And he, his, the title is MLB Parity Possible without a Salary Cap. And then he breaks down the entire story and I think he does an excellent job doing it. Breaks it down in a lot of different formats. It's a long read, so get ready folks. You're gonna have to dry your eyes a couple of times.

I know people like videos most times or podcasts, but. Take the time to read it because he does a great job of laying it out. There's a few parts I think he missed, but obviously he can't write a Bible on there. So just have a read through. See whether or not you agree with what he says. But either way, it'll make you more intelligent about.

The subjects that are gonna come up in the next CBA, 'cause they're gonna come up and they're gonna be talked about ad, nauseam and it's good [00:47:00] to set your own opinion early so that as things get brought up, you're like wait a minute. What about this? How does this impact that?

Tim Dirks. So it's D-I-E-R-K-E-S. I don't know exactly how you pronounce it. The French in me starts to come out when I started pronounciating. Some names sometimes. So he's the ma, he's, I think he owns M-L-B-T-R which is the ma major league baseball trade rumors, right? Yeah. The, again, the title is MLB Parity Possible without a Salary Cap.

Mark Corbett: I'll make sure we put a link to that as well in the notes. So folks, while you're enjoying Baseball Biz on deck, make sure you take a peek down there also, or make sure that you comment, 'cause we'd love to hear your comments about what you think about what Mr. Dierkes had written there. Plus what's going on with the Rays.

And I don't really have anything else to add myself here, Matt. 

Mat Germain: Nope, I think we covered it off. We've got the world solved and figured out. Just a last little bit of a nugget. Yoán Moncada is going back to the angels on [00:48:00] 4 million. So they solved all their issues now as well.

Mark Corbett: All righty. Okay, Mr. Matt, it's been yet another wonderful evening, talking with you and covering everything in baseball, looking at our Rays, but so much more. Folks, it's going to be an interesting year and can't wait to see what comes from the Hillsborough County, excuse me, Hillsborough Community College Agreement in 180 days.

But we will see. So we wanna thank you all again for joining us here today on BaseballBiz Deck, and we'll talk with you again real soon.