Baseball United & WPBL: New Leagues on Horizon

324 BaseballBiz
 United BaseballBiz, WPBL

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: . Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett. And with me of course, is Mr. Mat Germain. And Mat , how are you doing this fine and wonderful evening. 

[00:00:10] Mat Germain: I'm trying to stay warm. The weather's getting cooler up here, so, uh, we are, uh, you know, enjoying whatever little baseball I can get.

[00:00:18] Even the ones down in Australia that I, I'd like to peek over at, um, they're keeping me warm. Mark. 

[00:00:25] Mark Corbett: There you go. , That's going on the, there's a ball going on, I guess. The Mexican league. Dominican League. Oh, everywhere. And then. We're looking to, uh, we'll talk later on too about the Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL) will be coming up later on this year.

[00:00:40] They're gonna have a draft tomorrow, and there's been a lot going on in the news as far as the development of a new league over the last few years, and it's finally coming to fruition. It's Baseball United. I love the na, [00:01:00] the sound of that. I mean, it sounds like everybody coming together, you know, it's, um, ha has a nice fresh sound to it, but it sounds like really a lot of people who are going away, talent who are walking away from us.

[00:01:11] The United Arab Emirate, I believe is starting up this league. And I'll let you kind of intro some of this, but I, I've definitely got some remarks on it. 

[00:01:22] Mat Germain: So there's four teams for the initial season, and this is the first season that it's actually happening. They're playing all in one stadium, so it doesn't, the teams don't travel around.

[00:01:32] Right. Which makes it a lot simpler. So it's all in the UAE in the United Arab Emirates, which I've been to, it's beautiful. Everything is new, everything is shiny, but, um, they, they have. Two teams from the UAE, so one in from Abu Dhabi and one from Dubai, and then they have one from Pakistan and one from India.

[00:01:53] The teams I think are called Karachi and Mumbai. So those are the four teams. Um, [00:02:00] but there's, there's MLB flavor to it. So some of the owners that put this on, there's a Hall of Famer, uh, or two Hall of Famers, actually, Barry Larkin and, uh, Adrian Beltre who, uh, invested in this league. And, uh, Adrian Beltre I know had a hand in this because Robinson Chorinos and Elvis Andrews.

[00:02:19] Are also investors in this league. And so they're bringing some sort of, attraction to it on, in, in terms of, uh, knowing which baseball players are there. And there's an X-rays player that's part one, part of one of these teams. And Justin Williams, uh, I know the savvy Rays fans will, will remember that name.

[00:02:36] , He's a outfielder and, and you know, he's having success early on in that league, but essentially they only play nine games each. It's not a full a, you know. Long season, yet they're just sort of getting their feel for it. So for anybody that doesn't know cricket is the go-to sport that would be similar to baseball in those areas.

[00:02:59] Now [00:03:00] the thought process is, and a lot of scouts in Major League baseball have done this. They wanted to get players over from India and these other cricket heavy teams because they've got LIVe arms. Like they're really, really, really great at athletes. They're not, you know, to be laughed at. Yes, they wear these.

[00:03:17] , Kind of uptight outfits. They're not very, uh, athletic looking. Sometimes when you're looking at them on the, I don't know what they call it. I imagine it's a field. Um, but they, uh, so they're using a field in Dubai that's actually made for cricket, but also for rugby. So it's actually called the sevens grounds in Dubai.

[00:03:36] And so it can seat. As little as 6,500 people and as many as 37,000. So it's basically modifiable to whatever, you know, sport and, and feeling that they want to have. So, you know, they minimize travel costs. Uh, they, they minimize the amount of teams they minimize, but they're getting some sort of eyes or eyeballs in that region [00:04:00] on baseball, which.

[00:04:01] To be honest, if the, if, if the Saudis are, and, and I say Saudis or the United Arab Emirates, people and, and India and and Pakistan are willing to invest to start paying the players that are usually playing cricket and they're willing to pay them more, chances are that they'll convert from cricket to some of these sports.

[00:04:22] But that'll take time. Right. Um, so there are Indian players, there are, you know. Players from other other countries that are part of this league. But I think what you and I'll probably end up leaning towards is how many. Players end up getting poached. Yeah. You know, over time from our leagues, assuming that this grows and that the timing changes, because right now you could argue that it essentially becomes another winter league.

[00:04:52] Right? So you could have the lead on, you could have the Mexican league, the ABL, and this would be another alternative. So players could go there to [00:05:00] get some work in, in the winter and then go back and everyone, no one's the wiser, right? It doesn't. Change anything. It just gives you another opportunity to get some innings and some in bats on.

[00:05:09] So that could be an attractive argument 'cause you're actually getting paid. So let me just look up this, uh, next, uh, amount. I think I have it in my posts. They don't get paid very much, so I think over the course of a season, it's supposed to be about 29,000 that they can make right over the nine games.

[00:05:33] Um. Wait, it's up to $18,000 a month. Right. And I don't know which dollars those are. Wow. Uh, so you can take in as many, as much as 60,000 over the entire season. That's what it was. Uh, do do 

[00:05:46] Mark Corbett: you get a castle as well and, uh, I don't think so. Service and a personal tiger. Okay. 

[00:05:53] Mat Germain: It's a minimal amount of gains.

[00:05:54] But here's the interesting part, mark. And this one will be something that you kind of, I don't know if [00:06:00] you've been reading my. You know what I posted on Blue Sky, but there's some weird rule change, uh, changes that they're using. And as part of that league, um, , we talked about the Savannah Bananas and, and how they're.

[00:06:14] They're throwing caution to the wind a lot of ways when it comes to how much, you know, they're changing in terms of what you're able to or not able to do. So here's a few of them. Okay. One of them is something that I could see Rob Manfred suggesting. It's called an ending, ending fireball rule. Okay? If the, if the pitcher strikes out a batter under certain conditions.

[00:06:39] Which they call a fireball. Then the inning ends immediately, no Mat er how many outs there were. Oh, you can have a designated runner up to three times per game. There's no ties there. If there's a tie at the end of nine innings, there's no extra innings. It's home run derby. That's how [00:07:00] it's decided. Geez.

[00:07:01] Right. And then here's the one. So there's a Moneyball, okay? Mm-hmm. This one would, would really catch on. So the ex it, it doubles the runs on a play. So let's say you have a Moneyball at bat, it's called by the team. Let's say you're in a moment, you know, bases are loaded. Uh, such and such is that the plate, the team goes, puts up their card and they say, okay.

[00:07:27] Uh, this is a, a Moneyball play, so it's the, the whole at bat becomes a Moneyball. So any runs that are scored at that point are double the value. So if two runners come across, it's actually worth four runs because you called the Moneyball. Oh gosh. 

[00:07:45] Mark Corbett: Are you insane? I, this is crazy. Yeah. I mean, Jesse Cole must be starting a lawsuit right now for infringement.

[00:07:52] Man, I tell you this because yeah, this sounds like there's a, a bit, a Banana ball in there. My gosh. 

[00:07:58] Mat Germain: They get to call the money [00:08:00] ball three times in each game. So that, so in theory, mark, when we look back at all the strategy that they've taken away from managers in, in Major League baseball, you could argue there's more strategy in this baseball United League than there is in Major League baseball.

[00:08:20] Mark Corbett: Right? Oh my gosh. Wow. Wow. That's just insane. I mean, it, I, I love it. There's a lot more than I would've guessed. I mean, I was just looking at names. Oh, Barry Larkin, you know. Oh, I'm looking at, uh, Mariano Rivera and, and Adrian Beltre, the other ones, Robinson Cano. And I'm looking at what all the Hall of Famers there.

[00:08:43] But I thought, well, this is just a new venture. This is just something where they're getting some guys high profile invested in this, but I had no idea it had all the rest of this insanity tied to the game. 

[00:08:56] Mat Germain: It's meant to bring in a bit of that Savannah [00:09:00] Banana feel. Yeah. It's got that kind of pizazz to it, which I think, you know, for, for a region that's, that don't, doesn't have the history, doesn't have the.

[00:09:09] You know, the, oh, you're changing this. And then the, the immediate reaction is, no, don't touch my game. , So they don't have that. So for them it's starting fresh and it's exciting. And then they get to, oh, oh, that's what that is. Oh, oh. And then, you know, so it's great for them. They get to build it the way they want.

[00:09:27] So it's almost like the Savannah Bananas are setting up a league now. There's no dancing, there's no, you know, no, no, no etches and whatever that, that, that's so far away, away from happening in that region. But the, the concept is sort of intriguing, right? And then you combine that with the Winter League play, I mean.

[00:09:46] The, like, unlike The Savannah of Bananas, they don't have so many distractions that you can't concentrate on playing baseball. Yeah. So if you're a minor leaguer or a major leaguer heading over there to get some work in, like, [00:10:00] it's still valuable. Baseball. Right. And, and I have, I don't think they have anything like Statcast where you can tell how fast people are pitching, yet they don't have the tracking, , elements to, to know exactly what's going on.

[00:10:13] And I haven't watched any of the games yet to see, to get a feel for it. And, and what the, what the caliber of play is like. Wow. But, but I think it's, you know, it, I always say more baseball is better, right? No Mat er where it is more baseball is better. The, the, but the thing is, like we said before is, is they do LIVe in an environment where if they wanted to compete directly with Major League baseball, they could.

[00:10:40] And so that is the. The more worrisome aspect. Right. And, and I was there, um, in the, what would be their winter and is, you know, our summer right. And it was still over 30 degrees Celsius. So, you know, there's nothing stopping them from having year-round baseball. [00:11:00] Really? 

[00:11:00] Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

[00:11:00] Mat Germain: Yeah. 

[00:11:02] Mark Corbett: Wow. Yeah. I was wondering early on, you were talking about the appeal when you're looking at, they have soccer and cricket as institutions there.

[00:11:13] And I know doing a little bit of homework, looked at the population of Dubai and realized about 90% of the folks are foreigners. 

[00:11:21] Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

[00:11:21] Mark Corbett: And I know you've been over there, so you got a sense of that. So the appeal, I mean, but even if you look at foreigners, you're not seeing United States, you're seeing Pakistan, you're seeing other, you know, a lot of other Indian countries there.

[00:11:34] There's, don't get me wrong, there's other countries as well, but I was wondering if that audience. Like, like you said, they're so fixed probably already. If you have a culture that says, this is my game. I mean, trying to get somebody pull somebody away from basketball and introduce them to cricket would be difficult over here.

[00:11:52] So to take somebody from cricket and move their. High interest is something like baseball. I don't know how that's gonna go. 

[00:11:59] Mat Germain: [00:12:00] So the the thing is, uh, like if you look at soccer, right? Soccer D does not play consistently the same number of games as baseball would. So baseball is like a six day a week sort of thing.

[00:12:15] Soccer is about two days a week on average, right, for a, a team. And then depending on what tournaments you're a part of, you might have an extra game here or there, but, but it's a more, uh, loose tempo when it comes to whatever. And, and so if you're a fan. Right. Uh, uh, I think if as long as you're part of that city or region mm-hmm.

[00:12:35] You'll more than likely have the attention span to dedicate to this. Uh, but, but I also think it's, it's a fact that they love to get entertained. So if you go to Dubai, it is the entertainment capital of the world. Really. Yeah. I know people think Las Vegas is, but No, like you've got well. Las Vegas is getting Formula One soon.

[00:12:55] I guess that, that's another one that'll make it more international, so that's great. So it [00:13:00] could be sort of even, right, so you've got the east and the west, it, it's really, whatever you can throw at them to entertain them, they'll find a way to get crowds into it. Um, so that's the other fear, right?

[00:13:11] Like the amount of money that they sunk into the Gulf, uh, in that region just to build. So you think of that clientele, right? Uh. You know, you're in the middle of a desert. How many golf courses are there out there, right? Yeah. Like there's only a slight few. 'cause you gotta water them. And then that's, that's a costly event.

[00:13:31] I played in Dubai and I played at the same place where Tiger Woods goes and they put our names on the board and everything. And, and it was in the middle of the summer, like their summer and it was 55 degrees. Celsius and, and I drank four liters of water, but I never went there to washroom once. Mark, it was, it was one of those days.

[00:13:51] Mark Corbett: Oh, brother. 

[00:13:52] Mat Germain: So hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Hot. It gets really hot. Oh. But so when they're able to bring golf to the [00:14:00] limelight and end up. Really buy their way into the sport and sell it as hard as they have. 

[00:14:09] Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

[00:14:10] Mat Germain: Um, and with, they're intelligent also in the way that they do it. Right. Getting Greg Norman, getting people that are loud, boisterous, get the voice out there, and that, that gets attention regardless of whether it's positive, negative, but they make enough noise that it attracts people in and it makes, oh, what's this, LIV, what's this LIV thing?

[00:14:29] And so they've done that. They've also brought Reynaldo in, in soccer, right? Yeah. They went after the very best player in the world at the time. They said, listen, we, we wanna give you, uh, you know, as many buckets of money as you can handle. And there you go. They, they bring, the name that, that kind of carries the message, , of what it is that they're building.

[00:14:49] . I think baseball, there is no, no doubt it's always going to be behind soccer and cricket in that region. Yeah. That's not the question. But the question is, can it be [00:15:00] viable enough to be a moneymaking machine for the owners and the groups that invest in this thing? And I think that's why you see some, so many Major League baseball, uh, names get, you know.

[00:15:13] Brought in is because they know they need to do yes, the marketing side, but they also need some money to get this thing off the ground and, get some, some sort of traction before they know how big it could become. 

[00:15:26] Mark Corbett: I hear a lot of the players and such from interviews referring to the owner and I can't pretend pronounce his last name, but evidently they can't either.

[00:15:34] 'cause they, they refer to him by his first name, cash. They said, yeah, cash money baby. That's, that's what you need with uh, something new like this. Add, I'll just look at it at him. Standing out there on Barry Larkin field is what they're calling it, I think during the games. Mm-hmm. And. I looked across the back, uh, backstops of all the, [00:16:00] the outfield, and I'm seeing Coca-Cola.

[00:16:04] I'm seeing KFC Shake Shack, you know, I'm, they've already got a lot of sponsors that here from the US that are there on those boards out there. Now, I don't know if that's for baseball only. Or is this something that may have already been there for cricket, et cetera. But it's interesting to see that the West is already out there doing sponsorships on that field.

[00:16:26] And I'd, I'd be curious to learn more about that. And Mat talked about the capacities right around 6,500. 

[00:16:34] Mat Germain: 6,500 to 37,000. So again, it can be modified based on what it is that they wanna do. Right. So that's the, the genius. I think the Japanese do this as well with some of their stadiums where they can convert it from baseball to soccer.

[00:16:50] So there's actually a full field that comes out of the ground and replaces the other field. And there's a swap that happens. [00:17:00] Transformers baseball field. Pretty much, yeah. If you're gonna build a stadium, like, especially when you're in densely populated areas and, and you know, land is, is, you know, there's a reason they build the Palm Islands out on the water in the Gulf of Oman because it's, or not Gulf of Oman, it's actually the Arabian Sea.

[00:17:20] But anyways, , the stadium itself, I mean, it's always gonna be a question of eventually do they. Build each their own stadium and what would that look like? But I think the travel is, you know, if you're only gonna play nine games, you may as well just stay in the same city. There's no, but eventually, if you're gonna ask people to be named, , from that city, you're gonna want to play there.

[00:17:43] Yeah. 

[00:17:45] Mark Corbett: Yeah. You know, if I'm Mumbai, I'm like, Hey, where's my home team? Oh, they're over in Dubai. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's gonna have loyalty. We talk about loyalties all the time, being from Tampa, you know, having fixed loyalties to the team. [00:18:00] But I'm curious to, to see also, Mat , have you seen if they have any kind of, uh, broadcasting rights or anything they're doing with it?

[00:18:11] Mat Germain: Not yet. I haven't been able to, to find any information on where they brought. I imagine like in those regions you would see it and you would be exposed to it. But like anything else, I mean, I guess I have a, uh, you know, the ability to get a VPN and, and get a, you put, put myself as the United Arab Emirates and see, uh, what pops up about it.

[00:18:31] But, uh, because the ABL was the same way for a while, . You weren't able to log into any of their games unless you were from Australia. Yeah. And a lot of their TV networks do the same thing. Like they, my, my wife liked, uh, master Chef Australia. And, and you had to wait until the, the black market got ahold of it and then you could watch it on daily motion.

[00:18:54] Right. And it was the way that you did it during pandemic, but, um. Yeah, [00:19:00] so I think they'll get there. Like I'm sure they have a deal, but I mean, if you're only doing nine games, you know, season for each team, uh, and then maybe a little playoff, I don't know exactly what the format's gonna be for that. But, uh, you're not talking ludicrous amounts of money for that.

[00:19:15] So I imagine, you know, I'd be more curious to see next year. So now that they get the data that they get and they get a reaction from fans, they might tweak some rules. They might, you know, add a team or two and then really kick it off next year. So what I anticipate we see if it has success is that, you know, it grows to maybe.

[00:19:36] Double the number of games, you know, to 18, maybe 25 games max. Wow. And then they go from there and they start building. So that's the question. So then, okay, now if you're talking 25 game season, you're leaking into early November and going all the way to February, maybe depends on, on your timeframe of, of how many games you want to have in between.

[00:19:58] Um, [00:20:00] so. The modification of the season and the timing of it, I think will be, and I honestly mark, I have no idea when the cricket seasons quote unquote, are, when the games take place, when the tournaments take place, if they have the World Cup and whatever else that they want have, I don't know anything about cricket whatsoever, so I imagined there's some sort of synergy to build with that depending on what the, the.

[00:20:28] The logistics of changing the field over from one to the other would be. But, uh, yeah, it, like I said, it's, it's better to have more leagues than not enough. Yeah, it's nice to bring the Middle East in to baseball a little bit deeper. We're about to see the WBC, uh, you know, 2026. I would love to see a, a team from United Emirates, or India or Pakistan being in there.

[00:20:51] That would be awesome. Like just bring more baseball teams around. 

[00:20:55] Mark Corbett: Amen brother. Wow. Well, you know, when you first [00:21:00] pointed this out to me, 'cause I'd been completely in a gray, I was more concerned 'cause I was looking back to like the LIV golf LIV and thinking how that was has been such a loggerhead situation between that organization and PGA.

[00:21:18] I mean, they're working with a merger now. In its early days, Greg Norman was the first one to really kind of start up with LIV Golf over in Saudi Arabia. And he was a pariah. He was a pariah after that brother. And I think the only reason that the PGA and LIV were even talking is because Greg Norman has stepped down.

[00:21:43] Mm-hmm. Now, the top golfers today, still in the PGA said they don't want anything to do with it now. You know, and, uh, Jack, Jack Nicklaus the other day, I dunno if you saw, he, he got a $50 million judgment. Did you see this? 

[00:21:59] Mat Germain: No, [00:22:00] I, I did not. 

[00:22:01] Mark Corbett: Okay. So the Golden Bear himself, he, uh, is retired long ago. You know the Nicklaus name?

[00:22:07] He's done a lot. And he had a company that, uh, he kinda stepped back from. Well, that company put out news that he was all supporting LIV and kind of putting PGA to the side. Oh yeah. 

[00:22:19] Mat Germain: Oh man. 

[00:22:19] Mark Corbett: His, his own company brother. So he, he winds up suing them for defamation. He hadn't said those things and he had not, he'd been more neutral about it than anything.

[00:22:32] Mm-hmm. But, uh, that judgment I think was just last week they gave him $50 million to Jack the Golden Bear. So from 

[00:22:38] Mat Germain: his own company that has, yeah. Geez. You know, I wonder if he'll reinvested in that same company. 

[00:22:46] Mark Corbett: Oh, Lord. I don't know. But the funny thing is, Jack. From what I've read on him, he's of the mindset that he's gonna follow whatever PGA follows with it.

[00:22:58] So if pg, [00:23:00] he's not advocating for or against that particular, those two working together. But it is interesting because see, that was seen as a, uh, rival organization and with what we're talking about here. With Baseball United and how they are today. That doesn't seem to be an issue. 

[00:23:21] Mat Germain: Not yet. Not yet. But but 

[00:23:22] it has, it has the potential to become a conflict.

[00:23:25] Mark Corbett: Yep. 

[00:23:26] Mat Germain: So if they, if they have success. 'cause right now I think it was genius of them to do it in the winter. Right now, nothing's going on. MLB does not feel threatened at all because of the timing, more than likely. And they're probably just monitoring it like we are off the side interested, oh, what is this?

[00:23:42] And then again, it, it's if they do, let's say they do 25 games next year or 18 and it goes really well, and then they decide to do a full season and they're like, well, you know what, if we're doing a full season, you know, uh, and then it changes that whole train of thought. And at that point, if you're doing a full [00:24:00] season, you're.

[00:24:02] Knocking on the door of MLB players who are free agents and say, Hey, come over here and we'll pay you a little extra than what you would make over on the other side. So then what does that major League baseball player do? Right. That's, that's the, I don't wanna say it's scary because it already happens with Japan and Korea, but generally speaking, the guys who go to Korea and Japan are like what we call, we would call 4A players.

[00:24:27] Right? They're players that really. They've outLIVed the, the triple A status, but they can't really get regular role in, in MLB, so they go to Japan or Korea. Try to up, upgrade their profiles, work on things that they normally wouldn't be able to work on because they don't get as much time and then they come back and they make, like Cody Ponce is about to get a contract in Major League baseball this year.

[00:24:50] 'cause he did something like that. Right. Um, anyways, there's lots of other names that have done it. The point is more if, if you're gonna have this league. [00:25:00] Um, you know, there's other opportunities that exist. So we talk about the scary part where yes, they can poach players and they can increase the cost of players generally.

[00:25:09] So people blame that exact thing on soccer, right? So, Barcelona steal a player from, you know, the, the EFL, you know, premier League and, and, and they'll pay so much money that it just becomes ludicrous amounts of money. So at what point does it stop, right? Let's say. They had targeted Shohei Ohtani when he was a, a free agent, and let's say they had brought him there, then you're, you're sitting there as, as major league baseball, football.

[00:25:38] The best player in the world is in Saudi Arabia or in United Emirates. He's not playing in our league. Like, so then, you know, what's your claim to fame sort of thing, right? So, so. I think it would behoove major league baseball and that league, if ever it does get traction and become successful to sit down as mature [00:26:00] adults and instead of competing for the same players, you know, help them set up their own.

[00:26:06] Recruiting environment within their own nations so that they have players to draw from that are local and not international. Right? As much as possible, or at least for the majority of them. And the other thing I'll throw out there, mark, remember we were talking about relegation and, and with, uh, Lou and about how that would bring some, you know.

[00:26:27] Honesty to the bottom dwellers in, in Major League baseball. That's a soccer style kind of thing to put in play, right? Yeah. It's from the EFL. It's that kind of model. So what if you did the same thing when it comes to soccer tournaments around the world? So. While the seasons are going on or, or whatever.

[00:26:46] In, in both regions, you have a world tournament, right? Where you just, I think it's called, I can't remember the name of it. There's one they play in Europe where the, like each club will play like the, the, the [00:27:00] higher end ones will play in a tournament, but it's haphazard, I guess. One this month, one that month one the other month, whatever.

[00:27:07] And it happens, huh? Through the year. 

[00:27:09] Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

[00:27:10] Mat Germain: So that it doesn't really take away all of your season or all of your time. So there's a lot of scheduling, juggling to have to do, but it promotes the game, like to a wider audience and to a bigger stage. Right. So it, it kind of upgrades without being with a World Series or without being, , the All Star game or something like that.

[00:27:30] It gives them the opportunity to say, oh look, uh, what I think. What was it called? I can't remember. Let's say the, the team from Dubai is playing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Right? And, and they're having, you know, part of that tournament, they, they clash. Well, that's an event that a lot of people are gonna have interest in.

[00:27:48] They say Dubai and Los Angeles, like the names automatically get their attention, right? So. I think there's an opportunity there if the, if Major League baseball [00:28:00] really wants to become an international product, which I think the NBA has become because of similar events that take place in terms of tournaments in Europe and in in Asia, like you've gotta start paying attention to those things.

[00:28:16] The WBC is one of those events that helps, but it's so small and tiny and every three years. That it almost gets forgotten in between, right? Yeah. It's not a constant. So yeah, that's what I would throw out there. 

[00:28:31] Mark Corbett: Well, I wanna share with you, you know, uh, as if you get older, as I, as I have mm-hmm. Those lapses of time from the three years of WBC, they seem to creep up real quick,

[00:28:45] but No, I'm with you, brother. Yeah, it's, I, I like the idea that there's times, like the whole idea of MLB and 162 games, I would love less games and more flexibility to do other things. I mean, the World Series, the whole post season, [00:29:00] the whole. Other group of games on top of that. But if we went down, I know we've talked about this before, going down, uh, shave off maybe 20 as much as 20 of those games and find a way to share the game maybe elsewhere.

[00:29:15] Do more of those ones. Like we do one or two a year. I mean, we start off with over in England or we've gone over somewhere else where we're gonna do it in Mexico or the Dominican Republic, but. Let's, let's do more of those. Let's do more of those and have less games. Uh, MLB has done some, you know, he is been very proactive in the last couple years for good or ill with, uh, some new rules and some things along those that nature.

[00:29:41] But to see what they're doing with United Baseball, like I said, it sounds like Jesse Cohen. I love it. It says it's the fireball. 

[00:29:51] Mat Germain: The, the Fireball and the Moneyball. Right. So the fireball, I think is, is, I don't think that one's as relatable. Like I don't think people [00:30:00] would really gravitate to it right away, and they would get confused as to what is deemed a fireball moment.

[00:30:05] Like I, I don't know how you call that. And to me it just ends things before they even get more intriguing. Right. But I What's your 

[00:30:13] Mark Corbett: Moneyball then? I'm sorry? The 

[00:30:14] Mat Germain: Moneyball, I think is, is the one that I could see. , Creeping into the Minor Leagues. Maybe they put it in A-Ball and they say, okay, we'll do this and we'll do one A game.

[00:30:24] Right? Sort of like just one time a game. You get the call the money ball and it's, you know, double the runs on that, uh, at bat. Um, I don't know, but it, it is intriguing. All I I am gonna say with that is as soon as you introduce it to Major League Baseball, all statistics evaporate. Right? It's a, it is like the.

[00:30:45] The league stats before, and the league stats after, because , you're putting a def definite, , rule change in that you can't really measure compared to other players that that came before and after. [00:31:00] So, um. Yeah, I, I could see it just because, , we've seen it in the All-Star games, like where, you know, they have the golden balls or they have the, the, the pucks that are worth more when they're shooting and yada yada.

[00:31:13] Like there's, every league has seemingly gone to this, you know, extra value for a certain ball. And in the home run derby, they have like, I can't, I don't think it's always called the Golden, is it the Golden Ball? 

[00:31:30] Mark Corbett: We got No, we got Manfred's golden bat if you want that. Yeah. 

[00:31:36] Mat Germain: But yeah, they, they have those that are worth more money or more whatever.

[00:31:40] So, um. Yeah, I, I definitely think that the money ball is one that they'll be intrigued by and, and maybe bring in. 'cause like I said, it's, it's Savannah Banana ish, but it's not the, you know, the Full Monty. Yeah. 

[00:31:56] Mark Corbett: You we're not gonna see 'em out there doing a dance and all of that. And, yeah. [00:32:00] Peeling off clo layers of clothers.

[00:32:02] Okay. No Mat er how haunted, 

[00:32:04] Mat Germain: it's Maybe, maybe before we die, mark, we'll see one of those dances, but it might, it might be for different reasons. 

[00:32:12] Mark Corbett: Oh, okay. We'll let that one fly. Oh, brother. I'll tell you what. Well, I'm excited about that. I feel a lot more, a lot better about this,, after having just learned initially about it, I thought, oh my gosh, this is just gonna be one other startup that's gonna be conflict with MLB.

[00:32:31] But you've given me a much better understanding of that. It's uh, it sounds very exciting, and the one thing I was mentioning about Greg Norman and LIV and PGA and being loggerheads at the very beginning, but with this. I mean, they've been developing this over a few years and we're talking about the people that are in it and just Hall of Famers, you talk, Barry Larkin, uh, Riviera Mariano, and um, geez, my knees.

[00:32:59] You wanna attract [00:33:00] people and it's, I understand some of the, the managers and coaches there are such that, uh, there, it's attracting players if they have nothing else that they, they have, that they absolutely wanna do. This is something that attracts 'em quite a bit. 

[00:33:14] Mat Germain: , I, I could even see some major league baseball if they do keep it, like, if they do decide to keep it in the winter, yeah.

[00:33:20] I could see some affiliations taking place eventually, like in, in some way, shape or form, sort of like what the rays have with the Perth heat and the ABL. Right. It's not a, it's not a formalized agreement that is like, okay, they're, they're known as an affiliate of the Rays. And I think now they have a, a Yankees prospect on board.

[00:33:40] They have a, a Jays prospect. They have a Texas Rangers prospect, and then the three Rays, uh, prospects with them as well. Wow. Uh, but they, you know, that kind of arrangement where, uh, the teams do need extra innings and extra playing time. And to be honest, like how, how cool would it be if you're a minor leaguer, you're making [00:34:00] peanuts and all of a sudden the team offers for you to go to play in Dubai?

[00:34:05] I dunno, many baseball players that are gonna say no to that. So, um, yeah, it'll be, it'd be a life experience as well as a, a baseball experience is what I mean. 

[00:34:15] Mark Corbett: You were talking earlier about 4A players and going to other countries. Mm-hmm. And my mind went immediately to Bob Seymour. And, uh, Ray, we just recently, he is, I guess was he DFA'ed or how, how'd that work out?

[00:34:31] Mat Germain: Uh, they, they released him so he could actually, , chase pursue and he wasn't the only one. They did it with Forrest Whitley as well. Yeah. Both of them are gonna end up in Asia, uh, chasing, uh, or actually Bob is actually signed, so he is with the Buffalo Orix, I think they're called. Yeah. Uh, the, the same league that, that had a lot of stars, you know, play for them.

[00:34:54] So our, the same team. Um, so it's a very, uh, you know. [00:35:00] Very strong organization and I can see him having a lot of success. Like there's, there's been a lot of players that have been able, I think Luan Diaz is one that's over there right now. He just hit 50 home runs in a KBO and he's one of the free agents that a lot of people are pushing to come back to Major League baseball as a first baseman.

[00:35:20] So anybody that misses out on the. You know, there's a good four or five really strong first base, uh, free agents. They could dive into to his status and the Yankees would be one that I could see, saying, , if they could actually move Ben Rice somewhere, um, or give him more time behind the plate or you know, move Giancarlo Stanton.

[00:35:44] 'cause he's just getting older and he's getting to that point. I don't know how they would do that. But anyways, there's a lot of teams that say the Mets miss out on Alonso, he could end up there. , There's a lot of value to going over to that league because it forces you to be a different type of hitter.

[00:35:59] [00:36:00] So the pitchers, and we've seen it in the WBC, the Japanese pitching is excellent. Oh yeah. And they, they are good at changing speeds, and they're good at command. So those are things that will get you as a hitter. , To adopt a different approach and work on different skills than you normally would if you were still remaining in the minors and trying to earn that MLB playing time.

[00:36:23] , At the same time, , you're able to be out of that environment of constantly hearing the same things and finally having a different voice over there tell you something in a different way. Yep. Which can be extremely beneficial. It's just a refreshing, you know, kind of, oh, okay, I'll try this, I'll try that.

[00:36:40] And so you're trying different things that, that end up getting the most out of your, uh, your performances. And so there's a lot of good value to be had from it, in my opinion. I'm surprised more people don't do it. There's a lot of, of triple A players you see sometimes you're like, man, that guy deserves a shot.

[00:36:58] Yeah. And they just can't get it [00:37:00] because of whatever team they're on, sometimes. 

[00:37:03] Mark Corbett: Well, I wanna keep watching Bob, you know, see how he does and like you're saying, hearing something different, hearing a different voice, hearing a different direction, sharpening a game differently than, than you might have thought that that talent would've gone otherwise.

[00:37:16] And maybe making them a better ballplayer just because of it. Separate experience and separate guidance. Maybe they wind up back here again. Who knows? So, I don't know. 

[00:37:26] Mat Germain: I can see it. Yeah, I can see Bob coming back for sure in the next two years. And if he does, I think he'll be a very strong power hitter that hits for a better average than he would've had otherwise.

[00:37:37] So. 

[00:37:37] Mark Corbett: Well, and a lot of people are gonna miss Bob. I know a lot of MLB announcers are really upset because they can no longer have a Bob they can refer to. 

[00:37:45] Mat Germain: Yeah. But for one season, we got to see two Seymours on the same team. I mean, there you go. Come on. That's history right there. You can't, you can't beat that mark.

[00:37:55] Oh, we had a Bob and two Seymours. I mean, that deserves some [00:38:00] sort of prize. 

[00:38:01] Mark Corbett: Hey, I, uh. Went over to St. Pete the other day and I, yeah, I drove over there and I took a peek. There's still a couple men walking around the top of the dome. Things are being checked out. I think everything's gonna get done in time.

[00:38:15] That's what Ken Babby, the CEO of the Rays has said. And I, I expect as much had to stop by Ferg's man, I, that little bar, if you, when you come down here, brother, that's where we're gonna go. We gotta go to Ferg's. Sounds good. Yeah. Yeah. So they're gonna be there for a bit. Uh. St. Pete's very happy right now knowing that they're gonna have the Rays for a couple more years.

[00:38:34] So we'll see what else they're gonna do with the Trop in the future. But, uh, yeah, it was good to see the trop looking better. You know, I drove by and, uh, there's work being done. Cars are in the parking lot and all that, so it's good news. I'm, 

[00:38:49] Mat Germain: I'm very curious, if ever you get a, a chance to talk to any of them.

[00:38:53] Ask them if they're planning on keeping the upper portions open. All season long. Oh [00:39:00] man. And, and what the packages would be for, for those seats. 'cause I'm curious to see, you know, what their vision is in terms of, of trying to attract as many people as possible. So, in my opinion, if you can get somebody in those upper seats for $2.

[00:39:14] By all means, bring 'em in for $2, like pack that house up and then make it an environment that has, that's loud, that's boisterous, that gets, you know, the buzz going. Um, I think that's a lot of fun and that's what makes baseball the best is when you're actually part of a huge crowd and, and people are chatting and they're in the game.

[00:39:34] The, you know, I just, from the concessions themselves, parking and then the $2, you're gonna make your money back and end some. Yes. You. Oh yeah. They may not have spent as much money in terms of going to a lower bowl, but then they probably would've stayed home. So, you know, in a lot of cases. So, anyways, we'll, we'll, we'll see what that ends up looking like.

[00:39:54] But Mark, the team is going to be different. Yeah, that's one thing I can guarantee you right now, [00:40:00] because the changes that are happening, I think 27 players out of the organization have left are 28 now. Um, 28 mark. That's, that's a lot.

[00:40:11] Mark Corbett: Yeah. That's a lot, babe. That's a whole lot.

[00:40:13] Mat Germain: And we're November 18th, like we haven't gotten into the Whoa, like rule five is gonna come around.

[00:40:20] Yeah. The, you know, they're gonna make a couple more trades. I think Brandon Lowe is, is on the market. There's going to be a significant, turnover , of names, but you're seeing it everywhere. And one thing that surprised me was they brought in Jake Fraley and they brought in a DFA'ed. Him and Chris Morel now.

[00:40:39] Yeah. I think I've told you this before where I didn't think Chris Morel was the centerpiece of the trade that they made with the Cubs. There's a minor league pitcher that I firmly believe was the, the guy they were targeting the whole time. So I'm not completely shocked. I'm just more shocked they couldn't find a trade for 'em, right?

[00:40:57] Mm-hmm. So [00:41:00] yeah, every team, there's a lot of, , people being DFA that are a little bit eye-opening sometimes and, there's gonna be a lot of talent to, to kind of sift through. That's, that's laying around right now, that's getting, you know, the roster crunches are real. Oh yeah. It's not a joke.

[00:41:16] It's, uh, you know, people are signing minor league deals and, and just trying to get AAA time so that they can earn their way back basically. 

[00:41:26] Mark Corbett: Well, it's, it's exciting 'cause it's, like I said, change is eminent for the Tampa Bay Rays and it does seem to be spreading across all of MLB. Mm-hmm. And I do wanna take a moment though to, uh, acknowledge something we're gonna do more with the future.

[00:41:40] And that's the WPBL Women's Pro Baseball League. They will have their first draft tomorrow. Tomorrow, the four teams they'll be starting with. There's, uh. Let's see. I know down to JetBlue in Fort Myers, they're [00:42:00] gonna have a watch party, so that in itself is gonna be pretty cool to see how that all plays out.

[00:42:05] Let's see here. I've got some more things I want to talk about with that. Uh, kinda give you an idea of what this league is like. Mostly. You may have already seen some of this. The draft, tomorrow's gonna consist of six rounds. You know, there's only four teams. There's gonna be 20 picks per round, five per team, and it goes up to like a 120 players and it's gonna snake up and down.

[00:42:28] So, you know, you, you start out with San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, then Boston gets not only the fourth pick, they get the fifth and goes back up. So that's gonna be how that draft works. Particular part of it, uh, says not necessarily all players are gonna be guaranteed roster parts, spots, rather are contracts.

[00:42:46] And the teams have the right to trade draft to players after January 1st, 2026. So this is gonna be the first year and there's a lot of talent out there. It started out earlier this year. [00:43:00] Um. Over at, what is it? Washington Nationalist Park. They had about 600 players they had to try to filter through 'cause there's like 130 now, uh, that are going to be.

[00:43:13] In the file for this draft, and I talked to some of the people who were making decisions on the players that were gonna be filtered down. He said it was difficult, had a very, very short window and so much talent, and you're given a glimpse of a person and you know, you, you can't necessarily judge on just one instance of the person.

[00:43:31] There were certain people by their name, you knew that their talent was and they were gonna be there. So I'll look forward to seeing some of them. Uh, some of 'em like Kelsie Whitmore. There's also a name like, uh, who is very popular and is coming back, and that's Mo'ne Davis. There's quite a few young Canadian players too that, uh, that I look forward to seeing on there as well.

[00:43:52] So that's gonna be part of it. Oh, I hope to be having, um, I was looking to, going down there tomorrow. [00:44:00] For the watch party, but, uh, one of the folks from the WPBL said she could possibly set up a call or two for me on Friday with a, a player or a manager, and I'll see what I can do to get that. And I want to try to get some, maybe get them on together with both of us here in the future.

[00:44:16] But the Women's Pro Baseball League starting up, boys and girls, and, uh, you can watch the draft tomorrow on their TikTok and on, I believe their YouTube channels too. Just go to their website https://www.womensprobaseballleague.com/, it is an exciting new time for baseball. We're talking about. What's going on with Baseball United?

[00:44:35] There's this, and I know, uh, MLB supporting a softball league in the future. So there's, there's always something going on, man. 

[00:44:45] Mat Germain: So it, it begs the question like with the CBA coming up, you know how much of that is going to play into things and, you're seeing , the sport enjoy a, a run of success at a time when people are like completely distracted, [00:45:00] right?

[00:45:00] So it's great to see, and I love the fact that the, , the WPBL is getting off the ground and hopefully a lot of people do tune in and a lot of people do watch the games and go to the games. And make, make that grow. Right. If you can get the WPBL to be up to even double the teams, let's say you get to eight, right?

[00:45:19] At that point you're talking about solid TV deals and, and more like at least to the same level as what the CFL and that's the Canadian Football League. You know, they're only, um. Nine teams right now, I think, and they're trying to find a 10th. I think they might go to Halifax eventually, but, know, it, costs a lot of money to, to get that off the ground and so hopefully they're able to get the funds from this season to, to get in there.

[00:45:47] Mark Corbett: I hope so. You know, it's gonna be interesting to be interested to, if the CBA, if we wound up having, where we're not, we don't have baseball because of the CBAs not being set. I [00:46:00] think back to COVID and when I was watching KBO Korean baseball, you know, and, and I'm people, if you love the game, you're gonna find it.

[00:46:09] So I encourage MLB and the Players Association to find an agreement because we're gonna find baseball somewhere, boys and girls. But we, we'd love to keep the MLB there too. So exciting times. With the Women's Pro Baseball League with the draft tomorrow, check it out, and we'll be covering more of that in the future here on BaseballBiz on Deck as well.

[00:46:31] Mat Germain: I wanna throw one more thing because we're talking about, access to baseball. Yeah. And so they brought out the, uh, the broadcasting rights today. Oh yeah. And Mark, somebody listed the, the amounts of, uh, subscriptions that you would have to, to have. To watch all of the Yankees games. Right. And it was ridiculous.

[00:46:54] It's like seven different networks, I think, that you had to be signed up for and, and have on hand. [00:47:00] 

[00:47:00] Send me that. I wanna put that in the notes because Go, go ahead. I mean, there's probably more to that, but 

[00:47:04] No, but yeah, like, I think you're, you're more onto that topic than I am. But the, uh. The broadcasting issue, and I, the reason I bring it up like this is, um, the MLS decided to make it accessible to everyone.

[00:47:20] Now you don't have to sign up to a subscription. They're just a deal with Apple. They're on Apple and that's it. Yeah. As long as you have Apple. You're now getting MLS so that's gonna be a huge draw for people to actually say, well, oh, okay, well I've got MLS, I've got the, access to all the games.

[00:47:38] That's the way it should work. Oh yeah. You pick one, you get the contract and they're all accessible. There's no blackouts. 

[00:47:45] Mark Corbett: Right. I I, I'm, I'm, I'm there with you and I read something earlier today too about, um. Manfred, MLB and ESPN. Mm-hmm.

[00:47:55] And the disagreement that's going on there. So send me that link. I'll put it in the [00:48:00] show notes because I think it needs further investigation and. Upon looking that I think we, like I said, I think we need to get Craig Calcaterra back on here because he, he certainly has an idea about how a lot of this is going on, and, uh, he's got a bit of pinch.

[00:48:16] Maybe we share on the, what should be done with MLB on that as well. So anyway, fun times. 

[00:48:23] Mat Germain: It's crazy. 

[00:48:25] Mark Corbett: All right, brother, well go ahead and we'll bring it to a close. And thank you all again for joining us here today on BaseballBiz On Deck. Mr. Mat here, Germain and myself, mark, and we, uh, look forward to talking with you guys again real soon.

[00:48:42] Mat Germain: I think we need Mr. Mat and Mr. Mark, , t-shirts.