ABS changes - Tony Clark resigns - CBA alert - TB Rays Outfield

338 BaseballBiz

Mark Corbett: [00:00:00] Welcome to Baseball Biz on Deck. It is Ash Wednesday and I repent right now. My friends, I repent for all of us in baseball who ex have such great expectations and we know what's gonna happen. Welcome Mat. How you doing, buddy? 

Mat Germain: I'm doing great. I haven't been having any parties with any family members with unknowingly.

I'm not gonna get into any details, but I'm gonna jump right into that one because it's an interesting story. 

Mark Corbett: we start hearing something rolling out there about the M-L-B-P-A folks. That's the Major League Baseball Players Association, their union and the people who lead it.

Mr. Tony Clark. You know, we thought he looked sharp, you know, they had that sharp look. The bald head, the wonderful beard. But evidently there's enough other things going on that didn't work out so well. Why don't you kind of bring us into that arena? 

Mat Germain: Right. Well, the, the story sort of broke out w [00:01:00] weirdly because it wasn't at all what people initially thought.

What, what, well, I guess it sort of was, but it wasn't the reason that he was stepping down. But apparently he resigned abruptly as the executive director of the M-L-B-P-A because the. The firm that was doing some investigations, discovered some things that he was doing which included his sister-in-law and, and apparently it was enough for him to, to kind of you know, fall on his sword, I guess the best way to put it.

Speaker 3: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And you know, it's a contentious issue. There's also some words of I don't know what they call it, like misappropriation of funds from certain endeavors that occurred in MLB. And I guess the investigation was really focused on that, and that's why the assumption was made, that that's why he was falling on his sword.

Now, whether or not one was gonna sink him or the other, or both together, I think he could [00:02:00] argue, you know. One or the other, but long and short of it is that he he did this, I think on his own, like it wasn't thrown onto him as far as I know, knowing that more stuff was going to come out later on. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, the, he, I think he resigned at just the right time because let's face it, spring training's beginning and what happens at the beginning of spring training, that's when the major League Baseball players, associations lead person, Tony Clark.

Would be going to each one of the teams, you know, over the next couple of weeks visiting with them. And basically, I guess giving a pep talk and a state of the union individually at each one of those teams locations, which, you know, I, I've always thought that was a great thing to do. And so his timing of his departure, it could've happened sooner, but I, I'm glad it didn't happen later.

That's it. We know what's happening with, as far as Major League Baseball Players Association and having a, an agreement a [00:03:00] CB, a collective bargaining agreement with Major League Baseball that has a, you know, three year expiration on that puppy and two of the years are gone. So those conversations are gonna be had this year deciding whether or not there's gonna be baseball in 20 28, 20 27.

Excuse me, getting ahead of myself, brother. 

Mat Germain: That tends to happen sometimes on, on occasion anyway, but they've already named a, a replacement or interim replacement, I guess is the best way to put it, because. It can't be a fully, you know, reigned in position unless they make it official down the road. But Bruce Mayer, who was the second in command basically for D-M-L-B-P-A is gonna be the one taking over that role for now.

And, and he'll be taking on the fight now. He was really involved and he, he knows all of the inner working. And he's been called, quote unquote, the union's most fierce litigator since the days of Don [00:04:00] Fur and gene Ora. So you know, he's not, he's not a putty cat. And, and he's supposed to be tough enough for the M-L-B-P-A to, to be able to count on him, you know, having a hand in it.

But the, it, it begs the question. So we talked about, you know, before we started this show, you know, who who is going to have an impact on the CBA negotiations from the lba M-L-B-P-A point of view. And we talked about how the minor leaguers are going to be a part of that. You know, in this case, I think for the first time, like through an entire CBA, the last time the fight was focused, I think primarily on Major League baseball players.

Yes, there was talk about some of the issues that addresses concerns for the minor leaguers in a way. But it was sort of like if you had a list of 20 priorities and you. You know, 19 and 20 might be minor leagues related. So I don't think it was at the [00:05:00] forefront the way that it might be a little bit more now.

So the question that I would have is whether or not they decide to make the second in command somebody that's representative of the minor leaguers in this case, and sort of bring them more, you know, a little bit higher up on the echelon just to make sure that they have the vast majority of the. The people that they're representing covered?

Mark Corbett: Well, I'm, I'm trying to think, wasn't there like a, a board of 78 people, I believe. And of those, I mean, it's almost half and half with the minor leaguers, I think. Pardon me. I think there's more major leaguers to some degree, but there's a, a high number of minor leaguers that are part of that organization as well than the committee.

And you know, last time out, Mat, it seemed like players are ready to come back. But there were a few guys who were on, the ones who were on the board talking about the contract who said, no, we really don't need to go there just yet. And these were all [00:06:00] players who were making probably 10 plus million a year, and if you remember that or not, but the rank of, file, were ready to come back and play ball.

But those other ones, pardon me, those other ones, I don't know if you could say most of 'em were Scott, Boris clients or not. They were, it felt like they were kind of holding back and, and protecting their interests. And I get that to a point, but I'm not sure if it's gonna be the same situation with minor leaguers in the next CBA, that they're going to protect their own first.

They're gonna protect their own wallet and then, you know, consider what they can do for minor. And maybe that's just my pessimism, but we will see. 

Mat Germain: Right. But my, my point would be like they, the minor leaguers have a significant voting right. In this next CBA. Yeah. Compared to what they had in the past. So if you're trying to get something passed, you're going to have to give them.

Some sort of benefit, right? Yeah. And, and in my opinion, like the, the salaries we saw the first [00:07:00] jump in history, right? Like in, in terms of the, the salaries that minor leaguers get, which was a huge thing. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So I haven't really dove into what the issues are that minor leaguers might focus on in this CBA, but in my opinion, one of the things that they may want to increase is the, or improve would be the way the Rule five draft happens so that they get more mobility from team to team and they're able to get into you know, a position to get playing time more easily or adequately than they currently have. Because right now the Rule five draft is pretty restrictive. It's kind of not really taken seriously.

The other thing that might benefit them is the roster sizes. So I think a lot of people right now are concerned about issue. Injuries. So if you're looking at you know, maintaining a certain roster size, so for instance, if MLB was to allow a 27 man roster all year long. No, no bump up in September, right?

Wouldn't that be better [00:08:00] for minor leaguers as an example? Like that actually, you know, improves their chances of getting a spot in in MLB, not being stuck in aaa. Like that's a significant, you know, additional benefit for them. It opens up 30 different opportunities that they can grab onto an MLB, so.

There's a lot of, of focuses that can be like that. Like, so it's not all gonna be cap and floor. The other one is arbitration, you know, how early do they get to arbitration, especially if you're a pitcher. What kind of bonuses do they improve the bonuses for this? That. The other thing is there a way to actually get AA players paid a little bit better you know, and, and have like, I don't want to call it the 28th man on the roster, but one that is actually get getting paid almost to the same caliber as an MLB player, but playing in aa Right.

Something like that. Like, I think there's, there's avenues for them to do that so that they can actually improve their position. But I think the. The CBA is going to be very interesting because now it's what I [00:09:00] like about this whole change, right? And I said this on, on blue sky, and I think you kind of shout back at me like it's not, it's not all positive, right?

But I like a change in leadership. And the reason is because when you go into a room and you're always the same voices, hearing the same stories, and you've heard them before and it becomes. A little bit mind numbing and, and you already have emotions driven into it. So I think bringing in new blood, whoever that second in command ends up being is going to be able to look at things through a little bit fresher, you know, glasses and not be as combative maybe as Tony Clark might have been in, in this situation.

And so, and they might be able to, you know, throw a different angle into something that you're actually able to grab onto at that point and change the conversation a little bit. So I see it as providing us with a little bit of hope from the player's side. 

Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. 

Mat Germain: That they may have a little bit of bend in, in the way that they see the [00:10:00] situation in SCBA.

Mark Corbett: Well, let's hope so. I'm looking here real quickly. Let's see. As far as the makeup of those folks, Seth, I thought Major League had a slight edge. And let's see what it says here. This is in an article in the Athletic and from wanna confirm it's, this is actually from 2024 and he was talking about the unrest, about how people were feeling about Bruce Meyer.

And they were talking about, well, you know, we, we should probably get 20 Clark to get rid of him. But at the end of the article drills points out. He says, minor leaguers now have a significant say in the governance of the M-L-B-P-A. The executive board of the union has 72 slots, 38 belonging to big leaguers, 34 to minor leaguers.

So why, while it may not be an equal voice, it is certainly, you know, a large one and one that should have some impact. [00:11:00] 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. And I think now, like, but players are smart enough to recognize the fact that, you know, what they've done so far has been excellent for the top 10%, but it hasn't, you know, moved the needle up as much for the remainder of the league.

Right. So, so hopefully they have a way of, of addressing that. But all that to say that it'll be interesting to see, you know, Tony Clark right now is, is, is going to get, exiled for a while. I imagine, you know, the, will he lance a, a, a baseball job or representative job at some point in time in the future?

Who knows? I, I think the. The more applicable thing in, in this case is the improprieties when it comes to, you know, investments and, and money made. If that ends up being true and he ends up, you know, getting charged with that in some way, shape or form, I think that would kill his career with baseball.

But, you know, it's another one of those chapters in, in in baseball where money always seems to impact [00:12:00] things in a certain way. And you know, you don't have to go any further than Pete Rose and, and you know, the, the White Sox of old, and there's a lot of, of pain to go around when it comes to, to money and baseball.

And it, it'll be interesting to see how much it impacts the, the season for the, for the players association and, and the, and the fight. 

Mark Corbett: Well, let's hope it doesn't affect anything we fans see out on the field. I, I don't think it will. I think they're gonna rebound back with, with, with some good answers and what needs to be taken care of.

And the, I think the season is secure. I'm, I, I can be more concerned about next year, but, we'll, we'll worry about that a little later on. Hey, I did wanna ask you, what do you think about, a BS system now about, we are watching your game on TV now, and you see your little box and they no longer call it as strikes and balls, man.

They're gonna, they'll still have a little box there and you can see where the ball's at, but they're not gonna post that on TV anymore. 

Mat Germain: They say that, but [00:13:00] I, I don't know, like, I'm curious to see how it'll actually work and, and what they'll actually have. Like, do they decide what the networks are gonna put on?

Are they gonna stop Apple from having their own? Because I think Apple had a different version of what they showed, like they showed a lot more velocity, angle drop, yada, yada, yada. They had a lot more. Data presented. So is MLB gonna get involved with that as well? So I, the a BS system, I love it. I think it should go in for a hundred percent of the pitches.

I don't see why we wouldn't really to, to not go in a hundred percent of the, it's like as if you had a a fully self-driving space shuttle and you decided, well, I'll let it drive 2% of the time, and then the rest of the time I'll drive. Geez. Like, it doesn't make any sense. I, but I, you know what, I, I'll take it because I do think those contentious moments in, in time when, when but I, I, I firmly believe that within the next 10, 15 years, it'll be a [00:14:00] fully automated system.

And we won't even con, you know, think back to it. I think it's, it's, it's going to be a positive. Positive in that as we're seeing already in baseball, the amount of times that managers get angry enough to go and kick dirt on the umpires is lowering by the season. And a lot of that is because they're putting in a lot of these reviews and, and replays and et cetera, and it's allowing to temper down, you know, the, the, the aggression of the of the MLB managers.

Mark Corbett: I would, I would love to see a metric at the end of the year. You know, pardon me if it actually impacts a number of objections and see what happens with that. Let's see. Here I am, I'm looking at I'm just eating into the athletic today. Let's see. In the article from two days ago, the strike zone shown almost universal on every local national MLB broadcast, will no longer be able to indicate whether a pitch is a ball or strike a league source confirmed to the athletic on Sunday [00:15:00] that it goes on to say.

It'll still be used to strike zone, but it will be on viewers to guess as to whether the pitch was a ball or strike. So we'll be able to see it and then we, we can say whatever we wish. Let's see. There'll be a five second delay on pitch location data to apartment. There will be a five second delay on pitch location data on MLB game day and the low latency feed that's available inside the ballpark.

Won't have the strike zone box or pitch location dots, broadcast feeds with the strike zone box will be operating on around a nine second delay.

Oh gosh, Mat, make it any more accountable than that. Come on. 

Mat Germain: Yeah, I think that this is a case of MLB not wanting to, to get anything wrong when it comes to that, what the box looked like, the height it was at, because this certain hitter, you know, is a certain height because he squats wider than [00:16:00] most.

He's actually shorter when he is standing in the box, whatever. You know, there's a lot of of things going in that maybe they want to get right before they do that. Maybe they'll do that next year. Or I say next year, I mean 2027, but there, you know, every step that ML B's taken, whether it's replay or anything else, it's always been very tedious at the beginning and kind of loosened up afterwards.

Like when last year did you notice at all anybody doing substance checks? Right at the beginning they were like, they were filming it all the time. It was always the umpire touching the pitcher's hands, yada, yada, yada. Like it was a very focused thing and everybody, you know, gravitated to it, and then it was forgotten.

So I think that the whole a ABS thing, it's gonna become seamless. I, I watched it in aaa. I never noticed. Like it was, I welcomed it because I was like, oh, good. They're, they're gonna get a call, right? Or they're going to get something changed. And the more interesting thing is, is the now you're gonna get the data on the [00:17:00] outcomes, right?

How often were pitchers, right? How often were catchers, right? Yada, yada, yada. And there's gonna whole, this whole, you know, saber metric analysis is going to be done on. So every spring training now, they're gonna have to train pitchers and catchers on when they should, could, may want to, blah, blah, blah.

You know, challenge balls and strikes. And so it really, it's gonna add pressure to the catchers and pitchers because if they keep being wrong, I'll give you, for instance, let's say you're. I don't know, Jared Cole, and, and you challenge, you know, 12 times in 2026 and, and, and you're wrong, 11 of the 12 times.

What does that say about your awareness of the strike zone? And the same thing for a catcher, right? Like, what if you're wrong on all of them then, you know, what does it mean? 

Mark Corbett: Well, I keep thinking to some of the really questionable umpires we've seen over the years and. Man. Oh man. [00:18:00] I, you, you have to wonder if they would, what the kind of scrutiny they're gonna be underneath now.

I mean mm-hmm. I'm not saying people really let anything pass in the past, but they certainly won't be able to do that now. And so if there's a questionable umpire who's who has a lot of seniority and such. He could still, he could still be under a lot more fire this year than he would in the past.

Mat Germain: Ah, I see it as if you got the answers to 10 questions on a hundred question test. Right. That's, that's what they're getting is they're basically getting, they're, they're, for them it lowers a lot of pressure. Same thing as video replay does. Sure. They're, they're gonna get, you know, taking a task, but nobody's gonna blow up at them, so then they don't have to deal with, you know, everybody moves on and, and it's none for the wear.

What, what aggravated. People, umpire wise, honestly, mark, it was the people that were wanting to be in the spotlight. Like Angel Hernandez wasn't, it wasn't just the calls he was making that were blatantly, you know, [00:19:00] outlandish sometimes. Yeah. But it was more the attitude that he brought with it, that that was, you know, it's like sandpaper to a lot of people.

So as long as the umpires maintain a, a good decorum and they're upfront about it and they're like, Hey, you know what? I missed that one. I'm human. Yep. We're all like, yeah, this is why, you know, technology is coming in, so it's great. And now we're all on the same side. So I think it'll bring a lot of peace to MLB.

Mark Corbett: Well, I hope so, brother. I'll tell you. But I'm looking forward to it. 'cause there, you know, there's been moments where we've felt like a call has wrecked a game. A teen has lost a game. They should have won a critical game sometimes because of a missed call from an umpire. And I, I give all the credit in the world to umpires 'cause that's a tough, tough task and you, you know, they can only see so much and we'll have to get a couple.

My dang on man. We'll have to get a couple of 'em on here sometime soon. Perry Barber and Greta, Greta Lang Henry, she's been on here in the past [00:20:00] and talk about some of their stories and how they dealt with some the challenges. But yeah, it's it's gonna be a different world with the a BS in place.

We'll see. 

Mat Germain: Right. I agree. I think it's it's good to see MLB being open, like they are probably one of the most open leagues right now in terms of making changes. So, you know, that's, that's a welcome thing. I don't think there's any fan out there that'll say, you know what? I want to go back to 1980.

Shout out any technology, like I think everybody's on the same page when it comes to that. 

Mark Corbett: Well, what do, well, I, I'm jumping here all over the place, but what we were talking about negotiating with MLB, but. Manfred Manfred did not only is gonna be reco negotiating with whoever's heading up Major League Baseball Players Association, but he's also gonna be negotiating with the owners, 

right?

Mark Corbett: Because right now, when we're looking at tv, it. It, it is, you know, you and I have talked about this in even the [00:21:00] past shows before about regional sports networks and some teams even own their own. I think the Cubs, the Rickets had they own their own regional sports network. The Yes Network. I believe that's part of what the Yankees own as well, but it seems like.

MLB wants to continue to put it all underneath one umbrella. I think we've seen that with Manfred out a lot of things much akin to bringing out their own umpire school and other things that are doing more than, than they have in the past. But some of these owners, they like the cast, they're getting there and they like to be able to control that.

Right now in, in some of the cases, Mat, we're seeing as many as 17 games a year. Are being handed over to MLB for, to be on Apple or a fox or something besides the local, the local network. And that, that's, it kinda stinks when you spend a couple hundred bucks for your MLB ticket [00:22:00] there and realize that maybe as many as 17 of the games you're not going to be able to see unless you have the cable for Fox or something else With apple, 

Mat Germain: I, I think, you know, when we look at the at professional sports, there's, there's always like a, a changing environment when it comes to their sources of income. And yes, we focus a lot on TV and streaming, but I see so. They're, they got a lot of money from these TV networks, but I think they have, because they were sort of using the TVs as a middleman between the marketers that were going to be paying to, you know, get their ads on those TV networks, et cetera, and they're cutting out the middleman essentially, and taking ownership of it at a time when.

To be honest, streaming media is about as cheap to kick off as you can imagine, like never before has it been as cheap as it is, [00:23:00] you know, to take a charge of it now and make it whatever it is that you want and benefit a hundred percent of the profits of that income. Is attractive and you get to control what messages and what everything else, like the framing and the look and the feel and everything about it.

So I think right now it only makes sense for MLB to to take a hold of that. But I think we also have to keep in mind that whatever losses, let's say they do make a little bit less right than they would with TV markets. How much is gambling? Taking up that and end some. Right. So when you look at it as a whole, I think MLB owners realize that, okay, yes, streaming might take a while to kick off and for us to develop it the way that we should in order to maximize the profits from that.

But gambling is more than taking up you know, the extra space that we need money-wise for that concessions. [00:24:00] Parking ticket prices, everything is going up. So, you know, to cry, to cry about TV deals. Yes, we get that. It's the bulk of your money and it, it does hurt a little bit, but it's not like they're not making money.

It's not like you don't have to pay to get access to baseball games. I know. I, I have to do it every year. And, and you know what, I actually. I laughed a little bit because now I only watch Rays games mostly other than whatever is broadcast nationally here in Canada. 'cause through SportsNet you get access to a whole bunch of other games.

And, and so they, they offer now for ML Bt V, it's 99 bucks for just the Rays games. And, but you get access to all of them no Mater what. And then. If you want all of MLB, it's either 1 49 for a certain package, or 1 99 for a a premium package. So when you're looking at that 1 99 package, they're making a hundred percent profit on that.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: For one person. [00:25:00] So if, if you have, I don't know, let's say 50 million people paying a hundred, you know, 200 bucks. That's a heck of a lot of money, mark. 

Speaker 3: Yeah, 

Mat Germain: and there's no middleman. There's no, it's all, you know, whatever they pay to do the, whatever the, you know, so. I, I don't think it's as big of a deal as we're making it out to be.

They make it a big deal because it puts them in a certain position when it comes to the CBA. They're able to use it and say, you know what? We we're taking on all this risk and we have to negotiate this. And, you know, all the sudden the M-L-B-P-A has to bend the knee. And so you know, there, there's an angle to everything that we.

See, but I, I actually laugh because the angels went so far as to say they're not broadcasting any of their spring training games. Not one. 

Mark Corbett: Oof. And did anybody care? No. 

Mat Germain: You know what? I'm actually thankful 'cause apparently they're putting Mike Trout back in center field. [00:26:00] So I, I was too angry about that and I know it'll lead to another injury and I'm not really happy about it.

I wanted to see him end his career on a good foot. But that organization and Craig Halter said they a perfect, perfect thing where he said, it's just a dumpster fire of a franchise, which I was like, you know what? Like, it's. It's not the right take. Basically in, in terms of you know, if you wanna appease your fans, you're, you're competing with Los Angeles Dodgers of all teams and you decide to not broadcast your spring training games at a time when everybody is zero zero.

You can get any fan hyped up, give them a glimmer of hope, you know, whatever it is. So. I don't know. Why would you choose to do that? Mark? I I'm trying to get the benefit of not broadcasting spring training games where, where's the benefit? 

Mark Corbett: I can't begin to imagine, I don't know what kind of statement that's supposed to be, but it doesn't make any sense to me.

I, [00:27:00] I saw the headline on it. Pardon me. I didn't dig into the story, but all was, I can think is why, what, what, what is the purpose of this? I mean, it's a slap in the face to your fans. Nothing else. It's, it's like saying, yeah, well, you know, it's more bothered than we wanted to contend with, so hey, we're not doing it 

Mat Germain: right.

Mark Corbett: And it's whole thing's. The fans first, man, it's, it's not there. But, but go ahead. 

Mat Germain: Oh, go ahead. 

Mark Corbett: Well, I was thinking fans first. The Mrs and I, we went to the fan fest this past weekend. Sweet. Yeah, man. 

Mat Germain: I'm jealous. Mark. I'm jealous. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, you, you were missing out on a great time, brother. It was, it was fantastic.

It was held out there in the parking lot of the Tropicana field. They had it all pretty well fenced off and such. And I thought I was getting there early, but we were, I guess we were in a line, it was probably about a quarter mile long by the time we got there. And there supposedly there was two lines, but I wasn't sure what the other one was.

And [00:28:00] I love standing in line it. 'cause you got people, man. You get to hear their stories and everything else. So, so we got this one couple in front of us. And this gentleman, he's a little, he's a little ticked off, he says, you know. If this is the season ticket holders line, or is everybody here season ticket holders?

It's like, but he said, well, just tell 'em the truth when you get 'em up there, tell 'em that you're not a season ticket holder, and they'll probably send 

Mat Germain: you 

Mark Corbett: over to the other line. When we get up there, I say, oh boy. So he and his business both are pushing bikes along that they, they rode up to that part and we get closer up to finally get to the gate.

They, they tie 'em up and it didn't make a damn bit of difference. 

Mat Germain: A line is a line is a line. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, line is a line is a line. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: But, but once we got inside there, it was fun. I gotta see Andy Freed and say hello to him. And I've talked about maybe having him on the show sometime soon. So we'll see how that goes.

And who is Steve Matz? I gotta say hello to him and let's see. Neil [00:29:00] Solondz was interviewing Ken Babb. I didn't get to hear all that. It was kind of spread out. There was, there was a good number of people were there, but a lot of 'em were there for the merch. That's supposed to be greatly discounted. Yeah, well that was like about another half a quarter mile line.

So I said, yeah, I'd like it, but I'll get it on eBay. And, but it was fun. Everybody was having a great time and they had the. Beer vendors were there. Let you try a small sip of this or that or the other. And then I hope, I hope this is the cost of the, the food when we get there because got a hot dog, a water and some chips for $5, so, you know, sweet.

Nice. I don't think it'll be that the tr, but hey, it was great for the day. It was a lot of fun. Everybody was having a good time. A lot of folks taking photos and shooting basketballs with players on some hoops and things like that going on, but it was, it was a nice event and I think everybody really enjoyed themselves.

Mat Germain: That's awesome. When you talk about merch, was there [00:30:00] anything new that stood out or, or was it all the generic, what you're used to? 

Mark Corbett: It was, there was supposed to be some unique stuff, like, pardon me, like the Randy Rosa, like the shirts from the randyland and all that. But to be quite honest with you, the, the crowd was so thick.

I could not even see the merch. I'm only, yeah. I'm only going by the accounts that I, I've, I've heard, but it was huge. The, the people wanting to come up here and get it, they did as well as they could, Mat, on a day when it was supposed to be no higher than 70, and it gotta be about 78 or 80 degrees.

And it was, you know, it was, it's a little difficult for some of the older people I should know, but it. It was good. Everybody seemed to be having a good time and it, and it was great to see a lot of youngsters out there too, enjoying it and meeting the players and watching those big eyes grow in front of them.

It's, 

Mat Germain: yeah, 

Mark Corbett: exciting time. Exciting time. 

Mat Germain: That's awesome. No, it's a great event and, and I think they should even have a Midseason fan fest, you [00:31:00] know, when they have the Allstar break. You know, make all those players that, that are supposed to be going home, like punish them for not making the Allstar team and get them to have a fan fest at that point.

Right. And a Midsummer fan fest. 

Mark Corbett: I like that 

Mat Germain: you should have made the All Star team.

No, but I was gonna ask, have they said at all, and I'm still waiting to hear on this, whether or not they're gonna have the, a whole upper stands open all year round, or are they limiting the, the attendance, you know, like they did in the past where they block off certain sections. 

Mark Corbett: I have not heard on that, to be honest with you, Mat, I have, you know, there's, the word is, I think there's gonna be certain sections that they have special up there, maybe in the three hundreds.

But I, I don't, I haven't seen things saying that you're gonna open it all the way up. And when I used to work there, I remember if you were working the 300 level and there was a. There weren't, all the [00:32:00] concessions were not open on that floor 'cause we, there wasn't enough volume coming up there and you'd have to go down to the 200 level or the 100 level to actually get your food and come back up.

But I always liked sitting up here at the street. I mean, not all the time, 

Speaker 3: right? 

Mark Corbett: But it's, but it's like everything in the ballpark, it's a different experience wherever you're sitting, you know, and that's one of the cool things about baseball. Every game can be a unique experience for so many different things, but, it'll be nice getting back into the Trop for a couple years. I'm just be excited once all the other stuff gets done that I won't talk about anymore for the future. Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. I just wondered like the, the whole stadium deal coming together for Tampa side, if it'll actually boost the attendance a little bit because I think there's still a good portion of, of Rays fans that are just waiting for the hammer to drop and them to move out of the area altogether.

Like they still believe that that's gonna be the end result at some point in time because they were sold that for so many different [00:33:00] years. And you know, there's still a little bit of tepid attitude when it comes to that. And then, like we said before, where they're going to an area where they'll suddenly be a part of that lightning, you know Buccaneers.

And, and, and be part of the, the sports mecca in, in in Tampa. I mean, that makes them part of the family all of a sudden. So will they there be more people willing to adopt them and pay more attention to them? I hope so, because the team does work hard and does a great job of putting a good product on the field.

They, they deserve to be watched by a lot more people in Tampa for sure. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yeah. I agree with you, Mat. Well, but that's the bulk of what I had here today. I know there's been actually people and things going on, some traders there. What are some of the ones you'd like to talk about today? Is there some of that that you'd like to cover?

Mat Germain: I just wanna talk about Jacob Melton because apparently you know, Jacob I say Jacob Melton and then Adam Berry. So, Adam Berry wrote an [00:34:00] article where he was saying that Kevin Cash believes that the, the ball comes off of Jacob Melton's bat the same way that it does off of Yandy Diaz. Which, you know, when you're talking about a high pRays from, from somebody, that's an important, you know.

Person to have as a fan of your skillset. That means a lot. And I, I kind of always pointed to him and Ben Williamson as two guys that I think will help the Rays, you know, maybe could help the Rays overachieve a little bit. And when you're giving a player like Jacob Melton, the, the chance to get regular playing time, and I think the rays are going to do that.

You know, having a good spring training and getting, getting your footing under you right away is a great way to make sure that you're beating out the competition. So, so just to hear that message from Kevin Cash and, and they build a little bit of excitement for, for the Rays team, that, that kind of is going to need to build that confidence now that they've lost a few leaders.

You know, on, on the [00:35:00] team. So it's gonna be fun to see what Jacob Melton is able to do in spring training once the games begin and mark the games are beginning very soon. Yeah. So it's going to be great to get some actual feel for what the team looks like. I also wanna add that the, you know, the WBC is just around the corner.

We're sort of watching the Olympics in Canada because hockey's a big thing and, and we're kind of you know, getting close to the, I think Canada made the semifinals and so did the U us so there's a chance that that they could meet for the gold medal. Game. So that'll be fun. But, you know, the, the focus is definitely shifting to spring training and getting games in the WBC.

So you know, it'll be a fun week to kind of, or two weeks to, to get some spring training games before WBC starts, and then we'll be able to make sure that the healthy players continue on. And that's another thing that I like with the rays right now, is they only have one guy on the [00:36:00] 60 day IL, which is Manuel Rodriguez.

I just hope that keeps up all the way through spring. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And then that way we can actually, you know, go into a season with a, a really strong, healthy team, especially pitching wise. But the last thing I wanted to touch on really, mark, was we, we talked about the CBA earlier and how it's gonna actually play out.

I think we need to be cognizant of the fact that there's no downside for the owners, you know, at all. Yes, we could miss games, they could lose income. This, that, the other thing, the tax system in the United States and in Canada is built to protect. Wealthy people's income, so all of the losses are going to be applicable not just for the operation of that team, but they can transfer the losses against income from a whole bunch of other companies that they have other [00:37:00] investments, et cetera.

Which are probably more beneficial to them to do than the Major League portion. So all of these owners are gonna go into the CBA talks, and I described it this way as the fat kid on the seesaw, while the M-L-B-P-A or the skinny kid dangling their legs at the top. That's the way the CBA plays out because of the tax system.

And there isn't anything we can do to change that. So. As we, we will hear all season long about the CBA and this, that issue and that issue. Always think of it from that point of view. MLB players will lose the, from the first day that they don't play a game, right? They lose that income, they never see it again.

It's not replenished after the fact. Owners get everything that they lose back, so. Remember that, that's my send off for the date. 

Mark Corbett: Ooh, gosh, man. That's a Well, I, I'm gonna just pepper [00:38:00] something up after that 'cause that's one right between the eyes, brother. Hey, I did have a guy stop by the museum this week and he wanted to talk about the team.

He said, well, you know, he's listening to the show and he, I love how everybody can get hold of something in a game, and it's so important to them and, and the importance of. He's, he doesn't like our outfield this year. He says they're poor performers. He says at the plate, he says, you realize that the Rockies outfield out.

They had so many more home runs than what to Rays. Had, this is the group of Raysd outfielders. We had. I said, okay, but. I said, how was the season last year with the Rockies? Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, you know, he says we're gonna be down where they're at this year, and I said, sir, I beg to differ.

I said, I, I understand there's always gonna be variations and there's one reason why we're making changes to the ifield too. But that is kind of a solitary measurement of success for [00:39:00] what you can see for a game or a season. 

Mat Germain: But it, it is somewhat accurate, mark in the fact that the rays have never taken, or I shouldn't say never.

They, they've taken the EL field seriously, like the Randy a Rosana trade. When they traded Mathew Liberator to the Cardinals to get Randy a Rosana. That was a commitment to the EL field by treating what was really one of their top prospect. Arms to the Cardinals in order to amp up their production.

And they worked out grand at the beginning, right? And then over time it kind of wore in a little bit. But I think that the FI feel the frustration from the fan, and I, and I actually understand it, but I will say they addressed it like in a way like. They addressed it in the way that they made changes.

They didn't just sit still. So when you're looking at the lack of home runs, right. Who did they send out? Jake Mangum had three home runs last year. He's gone. Right? Cameron Meisner had five home runs. He's gone. He had Christopher Morrell [00:40:00] who was supposed to be a power bat, had seven home runs. He's gone.

Yeah. Josh Lowe of all people who, you know, despite getting over 415 at bats ended up with just 10 home runs. He's gone. Tristan Peters gone. Everson, Pereira gone. Travis Jankowski gone. They all the guys that were under performers? Yes. Chandler Simpson is still around, but now you're looking at the rays and, and Jose Cabalero was another one that played some time in the field.

I'll just throw 'em out there, but. You're looking at the outfield now, where they brought Ryan Vilade Jake Fraley and Jacob Melton, and I think Jacob Melton is one of those guys that is going to grow on people a lot. They also have an ability to bring some of their infielders out to the outfield if need be.

And, and I think the. The focus is more on getting decent production. It doesn't even have to be outstanding because the, the Rays infield is really strong overall. Like Jonathan Aranda, Junior [00:41:00] Caminero, Yandy Diaz, you have a core group there that is going to hit, they're gonna hit home runs, they're gonna support the offense and the pitching.

So you're not looking for outfielders that are gonna hit 40 50 home runs. It would be nice. But if they can just hit 20 home runs, right? Johnny DeLuca has the, the, the bat to be able to hit 15 to 20 home runs if he can actually get a full healthy season. Jake Fraley's hit 15 and on a couple of occasions, I think and Jacob Melton has the power to actually hit 20 plus.

So if you're looking at that trio in terms of, of what they can produce, and then Cedric Mullins. I, you and I can actually go back and forth and, I mean, 12 to 18 is probably where he lands. But, but I mean, all together it's more about the run production. And, and what I'll say is the, the Rays for 2026 are built to be on base.

That is going to be the driving force of this [00:42:00] lineup. It's not going to be the Blue Jays did that a little bit last year. They were pesky at bats all the time, all the way through. They were on base. They were driving the pitchers nuts. The rays are going to be that this year they're not going to be a powerhouse that hits, you know, it leads MLB in home runs.

That's just not their style. 

Mark Corbett: Oh man. Well, Jack, there, we talked, we talked about it. So we'll have to, Jack is he was very, very passionate about it and I, I respect that. But it's, it's, it is the fun of being a fan. We talk about it time and again, Mat, it's being able to have our opinions to, yeah, to talk about 'em, to share those opinions and enjoy the game.

So I wanna send out that out to all you all today. I also wanna thank a couple of people too this week. Pardon me, Ryan Woodward with the International Women's Baseball Center, and he's also with Women in Baseball Week, and also Mary Fiddler, who's with the All American Girls Professional Baseball League.

They've, they've helped me this week putting together some things on a [00:43:00] player by the name of Sonida Sushi Worth, Sonida Sushi Worth, and, I wanna thank them. And man, it all comes down to the conversation. So those folks, they share some things with me I didn't know before and that's, that's why we love baseball.

So Mat I wanna thank you again, brother. So with that, we wanna thank all of you for coming and visiting with us again this week and we'll talk with you again real soon. Alright brother. We need 

Mat Germain: a gong.