Rays on Fire - 5th Sweep - RaysUp!

353 RaysUp BasebalBiz May_6_2026

Mark Corbett: [00:00:00] Darn you. Oh, y'all missed a wonderful show. Matt and I were doing it again, and once again I forgot to hit record, so we're gonna have to start all over. Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett and with me, of course, is Mr. Mat Germain. And we're going to dissect what's going on in the wonderful world of baseball, and a bit more actually than usual on the Rays because it has been an exciting day if you're a Rays fan.

It is Wednesday, May 6th, and it is just a little bit after, almost getting close to 7:00. We'll take a look at what's going across all of MLB in the standings and, , some other news as well. So Matt, how you doing, my brother? 

Mat Germain: I'm, you know what? , The Rays are doing so much sweeping right now that I feel like I'm watching, , some sort of cleaning show , on TV.

Uh, I'm not watching baseball anymore, Mark. , It's amazing to see and, , because of that and my Habs playing tonight in the playoffs, I feel amped. I'm, [00:01:00] I'm in a positive mood. 

Mark Corbett: Well, you've got plenty of reason to be., It has been an exciting time, and you and I both have said, "Well, you know, we'll be lucky to see .500."

And I know it's still early in the season, don't get me wrong, but man, does it feel good. Let's see. If we're looking at what they've been doing, they've, uh, what is it? Is it three, three sweeps thus far? Wow. 

Mat Germain: I think, yeah, that's, they might have four sweeps overall, but they've won six in a row.

They're nine and one over the last 10. You know, the, the impressive things that I like are, are things like how many games are they winning that are close. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: I think that's something they missed out on last year quite a bit. So they're, they're eight and one , in one-run games.

Uh, and then they're also you know, positive record at night. They're 13 and six. Uh, against East teams they're six and O. Wow. So they've yet to be beaten by an Eastern team. So you know, it, there's just a lot to like about the way things [00:02:00] are going right now for the Rays. Nobody seems stressed out.

There's no major injuries like, uh, to the- ... to the lineup. But the pitching's another story. 

Mark Corbett: Mm. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 'cause you and I were talking about the three M's,

Mat Germain: mm. 

Mark Corbett: Martinez, McClanahan, and Maps. And- Matz is off the board right now. I don't know how long. Have, do you j- do you know anything about the injury?

Mat Germain: No, but it's one of those things that it happens every year with Steven Matz, and there's a reason why he's only thrown over 100 innings once in the last five years. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And, and it's because that continues to come around, so that's why I always said, like, there's still fragility in the, in the Rays' rotation.

Uh, the Rays are mitigating this a little bit right now with Griffin Jax and Mason Englert. Uh, so they, I, I think, you know, Jesse Scholtens is gonna piggyback off of, Griffin Jax. So I don't know if there's planning to just start Mason Englert and see how long he lasts. Uh, but, , [00:03:00] it leads you to think, okay, well, Ryan Pepiot we know is probably gone the majority of the season, , if not all of it.

So then you're, you're starting to look at the rotation. You're like, okay, Joe Boyle's had his issues as well in terms of health. Drew Rasmussen doesn't have a golden star next to his name- Yeah ... for health over his career. Shane McClanahan certainly doesn't. So when I look at the league, Mark, and I look at the Rays' record and I'm like, okay, they're 24 and 12, which is really impressive.

Yeah. Like, that's a, an awesome start that they basically have to be just above 500 to get to 90 wins, right? The, from here on out. Right. So they've put themselves in a really, really, really strong position. So when I look at that, I'm like, how good would Robbie Ray look with the Rays? 

The Sun Rays.

His name is Ray. His name is literally Ray. And, and, and- Yeah ... he's been in the AL East. He wears the tight pants that all the ladies like. [00:04:00] It'll get people in the seats. And, uh, I think, you know, the, the, the Giants just don't feel like they've got any traction whatsoever. Their lineup is really struggling to start the year.

I don't know that, that they would be interested in this yet, but he's a free agent next year. And if they're going to maximize on the value of, of trading him, and they do have young arms that they could put in his place, that might be something Buster Posey looks at and says, "You know what? Like, let's make a deal.

Let's make something happen." And, uh, and the Rays then would have Drew Rasmussen and Robbie Ray at the top regardless of what happens with all the other pieces. And Nick Martinez, oh my goodness. 

Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh. 

Mat Germain: Tell me about Nick, Mark. 

Mark Corbett: Uh, is he just a wonder to watch. I mean, his command from the, from the mound.

You know, you're not gonna see wild pitches, I mean, hopefully from no Major League Baseball player, but many of them do. He just seems to have such definition of where he's [00:05:00] going to put that pitch. And, uh, if you're looking at him from home plate and you're looking at that face, you can see the determination and his commitment to know Okay, m- maybe I should think twice about this.

But his ability to come in with a very, you know, sharp list of pitches that he can perform makes all the difference for him, so I'm so happy we got him. And again, to all you naysayers out there, well, Bronx cheer insert here. What 

Mat Germain: I love about Nick Martinez is he looks so happy when he's pitching. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah.

Mat Germain: He's always pumped. He's always upbeat. He's always, like, cheering himself on, cheering the team on. You know, he gets pumped. So it's just amazing to watch him. Like, right now, I looked at all the statistics before we started. The one thing that I did note, and, and I'm usually conscious of this as somebody that looks at st- uh, statistics a lot.

If your ERA is significantly lower than your FIP then it [00:06:00] tells something about the defense behind you, right? And when we had gone through the off-season, I noted that, that the, the defense was going to be a lot better because they moved on from Josh Lowe and Brandon Lowe. And they've put in guys who are making plays, Brandon Williamson, Johnny DeLuca h- is back now in the outfield.

Even Richie Palacios has looked good, uh, on occasion in diff- different spots. Today Chandler Simpson made a great catch in the outfield, and he was pumped about it, or it might have been last night. Either way, everybody is kind of chipping in defensively to the point where all of the starters and the pitchers, if you look at their ERAs, they're lower than their FIPS.

And that means that their stuff-wise, they're pitching to contact, right? They're trying to get the ball in play because they trust the defense behind them, which is great. And Kevin Cash would speak to that all the time, that, you have to be aggressive in the zone, and that invites contact, and that's okay because you've got the guys behind you to help out.

So the Grays are having a really, [00:07:00] really, really strong start and, and I'm gonna start comparing it to that 100 game season that they, uh- Oh, yeah ... or win season that they had and see how it matches up. 

Mark Corbett: It has just been, like I said, d- dumbfounding to me when I look at, too, right now, let's see, they get the fifth sweep most in the majors.

It's fi- five, okay. Yeah. And, uh, 13 games in a row allowing three or fewer runs. Now, what does that look like? With 17 runs allowed, the starter ERA is 1.38 and the bullpen ERA is .99. , That's, those are some pretty damn good stats there, Mat. 

Mat Germain: Yeah, and that's the thing, right? When you're looking at the ERAs, it's always great to see that, that low number, and then you have to be realistic about it and say, "Well, how much of it is, the fielders behind that pitcher?" So, The, the Rays just, honestly, timing of everything that they're doing as well. But when you look at their team [00:08:00] ERA as, like, both starters and relievers combined, and you put it in next to the FIP, it's about 50 points lower.

So the FIP is 4.12 and the ERA is 3.68. So, what I'm trying to point out is that if they start facing teams that are hotter at the plate, 'cause let's face it, the, the Guardians and the Blue Jays are great teams- Mm-hmm ... but their lineups are not exactly churning and burning right now. No. 

Mark Corbett: Like, they're...

Mat Germain: So, so if they face a hotter lineup, they can get into trouble and start losing some games and series that way. But they've bought themselves time. They've given themselves a cushion. They've... A great, a good team or a great team will win the games that they're supposed to win, right? Mm-hmm. And so they're doing all the work that they need to do in order to get there.

Brody Hopkins, uh, last start in triple A was really good. He finally lowered his w- uh, walk rate. He was locked in, looked clean. He [00:09:00] had seven K's in five innings, I think. Only allowed, uh, five hits and three walks. I'm happy to see that because he's a very important depth piece for them mid-season, if they need to call on somebody.

Or who knows, maybe they'll end up dealing him. I doubt it, but I think, you know, you never know with, with pitching and, uh, and how aggressive they wanna be. 

Mark Corbett: I wanna go back to something you were saying a moment ago about how good the pitching is and how dependent they can be on the guys behind them.

And I know Shane McClanahan today, you know, it, Ryan Bass or somebody there was trying to get him to say more and he says, "Look, Ry-" He says, "Ryan, you're not getting on my boat. While you keep talking with some of this, you're not getting on my boat." So there's a little cheerfulness and yet, mm, 'cause he, he doesn't wanna separate himself from the team.

Mm-hmm. And he knows that, he, he feels that whole energy when they're together. And they, they are making a difference. Today, it's, today he pitched, I think, five and a third innings and had four strikeouts. Mm-hmm. [00:10:00] Which is good. Yeah. But that also meant there was a whole other lot of outs that had to take place because of those guys behind him.

Right. And, you know, he respects that. He honors that. And looking at the Rays overall you know, ev- Okay, I'm gonna throw it out again. Taylor Walls. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: I've probably said more less positive things about him than I've said negative things about him over time. Sorry, Taylor. And he has earned more respect now that I, what I've seen in, I'd say in the last few weeks certainly.

And he's doing better at the bat. But, , I just feel like it's all coming together for him. It's gelling. And it's not to say that he has met his peak of evolution, if you will, as a shortstop with the Rays, but he's doing much better. Another thing today, I was watching before the game, they got Doug Waechter and he's interviewing Taylor Walls.

They're out there on the field, and Waechter isn't saying much because Taylor's doing all the talking, [00:11:00] explaining, what he does to be the person that he is. He, he even was talking about, "If I write a book, I'm going to include this." And w- the thing was for him is the pre-pitch strategy,

He, he said two-thirds of what he does comes from that pre-pitch, and the pre-pitch is knowing who those players are, knowing where they hit PitchCom. Mm. Now, Matt, PitchCom to me was something that just went on between the pitcher and the catcher, mm-hmm. And that was it. I did not realize that from one article I was reading, there were s- as many as 12 other little earpieces that they can give to other players on the field. Now, they won't give them to anybody in the dugout, but they'll allow them to have them on the field. And lo and behold, Tyler takes advantage of that.

So he ke- keeps a little earpiece in there and he hears the communication between the pitcher and the catcher, and he, in his mindset at that point, he's [00:12:00] already positioning himself where he thinks that ball's gonna be b- with that pitch. And I thought, "Man, what an advantage." I didn't even realize that was something they could do.

Mat Germain: Yeah. Imagine, , Jeter did that without the PitchCom, right? Imagine if, if, if he had that. So that, it's the Jeter school basically of, of how you position yourself before the play actually happens. And, and most teams will have some sort of signals to, to tell people where to be. But you know, you're, you're predicting a lot of physics in there.

It's sort of like calling your shot in billiards, right? Where you're saying, "Okay, I wanna go two bands and, and back in the side pocket." Like, you're, you're, you're making a lot of decisions on, on where you're putting people. And, and honestly, it's, it's impressive how often they're right, just because they know where that ball is going to be thrown by the pitcher.

They hope. It's not always accurate. Right. But so, so that gives you a significant advantage in terms of where you're gonna put people. [00:13:00] And I mean, if you ever go to batting practice or you watch people on the field- When they hit, pitch to a certain location, the ball tends to go in a certain direction thereafter, right?

It's hard to fool people with that. - The only thing the hitter can do differently is either be late or early- Yeah ... in terms of when he hits the ball, right? And so generally speaking, if they're on time, that ball is gonna be more predictable. So, uh, it, it is interesting to, to know, like, that PitchCom thing, who's gonna hack it first, right?

Who's gonna, who's gonna be the first one to actually get caught hacking it? 

Mark Corbett: Mm. 

Mat Germain: Who's gonna jam it in the key moments, 'cause you can do jamming. Like, we do it for war. I, I'm in the military. I literally have done that. So if, if you're able to jam communications in a key- Yeah ... moment, then everybody's lost 'cause they're so dependent on PitchCom now, right?

Mark Corbett: Oh, we- And you, you know about that ... they stop games sometimes right now- Yeah ... Matt, because of that. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. It, it's like they don't [00:14:00] know how to behave without it. I, it's, uh- In, at war, I kind of liken it to if you take away GPS, like military units would not know what, where they're going or how they're getting there.

I- Yeah ... think Taylor Walls is pointing to a good thing. It's a strategy like anything else that's thrown around in baseball, lately. Yeah, I'm glad that he's having some success. It's especially because I feel the, the Rays have been open to playing a lot more small ball this year.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And he fits into that role where he's okay. Like, all right, so they value the skills that I can bring to the games, right? So that, that definitely helps him. 

Mark Corbett: You mention small ball, and I keep thinking bunt. It doesn't always mean bunt, though. And the, because we do probably more of it than a lot of other teams, it gives us an advantage, I think, of what the, uh, pitcher, the opposing pitchers thinks of what our guys might do.

And there's no doubt. I've seen when Taylor comes to bat, they bring him in or they move him in, and it's, it [00:15:00] gives him also advantage if he wants to do something beyond that. Mm-hmm. But oh, my goodness, brother, I tell you what. So looking at him, right now, who is the most exciting player for you with the Tampa Bay Rays?

Mat Germain: The most exciting? 

Mark Corbett: For you, yes. 

Mat Germain: Oh, I, I would say Jonathan Aranda. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Just because I feel like he's, he's coming... Like, I, Junior Caminero has the most explosive power and the most ceiling potential. Like, no doubt he'll be a mega star for the foreseeable future. But Jonathan Aranda I feel is just becoming that polished hitter that can do everything in the key moments and wear opposing pitchers down, and no matter what, he'll come in clutch in key moments.

Yandy Diaz you could say the same for. I just feel like, like Yandy is, Less consistently powerful in the way that he hits, to the point where , he'll get like n you know, recently he had that, uh, that single up the middle where it went off [00:16:00] somebody. Um, he's also getting a little bit older, so there, there's just, Aranda is in, like, that key prime power, uh, high average, high on base percentage. So he can be that anchor in the lineup that is consistently chugging along and wearing opponents down. Whereas I feel Junior Caminero has a lot of quick at-bats or a lot of ground outs. So those are less productive and, and a little bit more frustrating to, to watch sometimes.

So yeah, that's who I would go for. But I will point out another, Mark. I'll say Ryan Vilade. I think, the Rays are so successful right now against left-handed pitching, and it has a lot to do with Ryan Vilade. In, in the key moments , when men are on base so far, he has a weighted on base average of a .438, uh, a W- Explain that

so that means he's basically getting on base almost half the time, every time that he's facing, you know, a, a pitcher and there's men on base. Uh, when they're in scoring [00:17:00] position, it goes up to exactly 500. So, you know, the, the ability to show up in that key moment and, and perform, like we were just saying with Aranda- 

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm

Mat Germain: against, most of the time, left-handed pitching, has been really helpful to, to the Rays who needed that. And they also have Johnny DeLuca who's chipping in, who's back and healthy this year. So between those two against left-handed pitching and the rest of the lineup that's able to do what they do, you know, Chandler Simpson, Aranda, Diaz, et cetera, that starts to paint the picture as to why the Rays, even against the best left-handed pitching, have had a lot of success so far in 2026.

Mark Corbett: Okay, buddy. You stole mine, okay? I- Oh. You, you stole mine. First I did, I had Aranda, and then I said, "Okay, Vilade and, and De Luca." That, that ... If you had asked me that same question, it would've probably been in that sequence. I've looked at Caminero a lot [00:18:00] lately, and right now he's still having some youth troubles.

I see the, the temper at the plate when things don't work out, and some other p- pieces and consistency. He is gonna be fantastic overall. So I said, "Well, if he's already picked all three of my guys, who am I going to pick that I really enjoy?" 'Cause I enjoy all those. And you said the name, and that's Chandler Simpson.

Mat Germain: Mm. 

Mark Corbett: My gosh, I just love him at the plate, I love him at the bases, I love him out in left field. I mean, he is just a joy to watch. Now, either, uh, I think in today's game at one point he just kept fouling off probably about as many as 11 or 12 in one at bat, and it's like, "Go ahead. wear, wear down the pitcher.

Go ahead, wait till you get what you want." And then you don't know what he's going to do at the plate. He surprises everybody. And as far as positioning people in the field, why bother? It's like he is just amazing with what he brings to the plate. 

Mat Germain: You know what I love about [00:19:00] Chandler Simpson? 

Mark Corbett: Do 

Mat Germain: tell.

When, when, when you listen to other announcers, other teams' announcers, like today I had to watch the Toronto Blue Jays, uh, version because I'm in Canada. So, they're talking and they're like, "Another single from Chandler Simpson." As if they expect it, and they're like, "Oh, man, we can't get this guy out."

And that's exactly the feeling you get with Chandler, is like he's gonna get on base, and then you know he's trouble. Every single's a double. Oh, yeah. Every double's a triple. Like, so he, he, he gets under people's skin. Like, if he's getting under the announcers' skins like that, you know the team is having it even worse.

Because they know once he's on base they've got Junior, they've got Jonathan, and they've got Yandy waiting right behind him. Oh, 

Mark Corbett: yeah. 

Mat Germain: Like, come on. That's not only are you facing tough hitters at that point, but you've got speed on the bases. And, and that's the other thing, Mark, the Rays are driving teams nuts.

Uh, they're throwing [00:20:00] errors, and the, and the misplays, and the- they're putting so much pressure speed-wise on the bases this year. And, and I'm seeing a lot of errors, a lot of rushed plays that probably could've been made, plays to the wrong bases. , So there's a lot of games that they're winning on those margins where they get into situations because of the speed factor, and Chandler definitely brings that.

Mark Corbett: Yes, he does. Well, there's just so many different players that make it interesting, and then watching them all gel together has just made this an exciting team. I mean, if we look back to the first couple of weeks of this season, it, it, it, that gelling wasn't there. The, the, uh, the bullpen was really s- seems to be s- was struggling more.

They seem to be doing much better. I mean, today for instance, let's see. Had that up a moment ago Shane McClanahan, five and two-thirds innings, two hits, one walk, four strikeouts. Let's see. Beyond that, uh, what, who came in? [00:21:00] Was it, uh, Kelly came in for a third of an inning. Clevenger, no, K- Kelly came in for a full inning.

Clevenger came in for a third of an inning with a strikeout, Bryan Baker for an inning with a strikeout, Ian Seymour with an inning and one strikeout. But there wasn't much activity going on f- at the plate from the Jays. There were some, don't get me wrong. But the, the team, since there was just, like, one strikeout per inning, it goes back to what we were saying earlier with Shane.

There's so much respect for the team behind him, either, you know, catching a ball, getting somebody out be- to a double play, just a lot of excitement out there. 

Mat Germain: Yeah, I'd also like to point out Ben Williamson. Like, I, I, the more I watch him, the more I enjoy watching what he offers. He's confident on the field.

Every play he makes, he's in. He's always communicating with the other players around him. Today he made a nice catch out of second base running towards the, um, the foul area, and he was calling off the first baseman and [00:22:00] the right fielder, uh, making sure that everybody knew that he was gonna get it. Over the last nine games, Mark, he's hitting 345 with a 367 on base percentage.

Mark Corbett: Wow. 

Mat Germain: He has a 13% strikeout r- rate, and, and he's getting on base at, like, with a 3.3 per- um, percent walk rate. But his, his batting average on balls in play is up to 400. He's really, really coming into his own offensively. He's already strong and versatile defensively. I would bet you That the majority of the AL East, if they could somehow get a utility player of that caliber-

they would take him in a heartbeat. , He is literally the kind of player you look for, 'cause he can fit in in any infield position and you're confident with it. Like, they're the kinds of players that really help elevate your team, because every time you're putting him in, wherever you put him in, you're getting a high performer.

The [00:23:00] Blue Jays had that last year with David, , Schneider and, , another one of their players , that drove every team nuts. What's his name? Da, da, da. Hang on. I'll get it. It's one of those, the, uh, role players that, whenever you're looking for trades, you're looking for that type of player because, what is, who's the guy that, uh... And Kiké Hernández for the the Dodgers, right? Uh, Miguel Rojas was another one that they've used in that same kind of role, where whenever you need them, you call on them and they're able to kinda come off the bench or be in the lineup wherever you put them.

Ernie Clement is the guy I was thinking of. 

Mark Corbett: Okay. 

Mat Germain: Okay. So, so he's like the, he's like the Rays version of Ernie Clement and, and, um, that, yeah. So I'm excited to see what, that he's doing that well. I'm curious how far along his bat can come, because he does have power. We've seen glimpses of it. He's getting that consistency now over the last nine, 10 games, so can he keep that up?

And, and where is that gonna take [00:24:00] him by the end of the season? 

Mark Corbett: I don't know., Kevin's not afraid to put somebody in or take somebody out. I mean, Ryan Vilade, whether he was doing well or not, I've seen, you know, he, he may not be starting, he may be brought in. And today, Cedric Mullins, he brought him in late in the game, and I can't remember what exactly he did, but I know he contributed.

I think he at least got on base. Mm. And there's some things of that. I saw him c- at least one of the catches deep into center. He, he w- did fantastic with that. But Kevin's not saying, "Okay, I'm gonna keep that person there for all nine innings." He's got enough good fellows on that bench that he can bring them in for three or five or switch them out or bring them in at the very end of the game.

His ability to bring in different players toward the end of the game also makes the other team have to jostle and figure out, "What am I going to do? And why did he bring that one in here? Why's he bringing that guy 

Mat Germain: in?" Yeah, and, and the other thing we don't talk about much though, is it's buying time for the young guys down in AAA.

, [00:25:00] They don't have, they're not forced to call somebody up that they don't feel is ready or that can get more seasoning down, uh, down in Durham., Durham is struggling anyway, but, , it's nice to have- the ability to let them really get their legs under them and only call on them, mid-June onwards.

Yeah. 'Cause by that point they've really felt comfortable and they feel like that's a better time to call up, uh, minor league players when you need to. But yeah, overall the Rays, I mean, when you're looking at, at holes, like let's say you wanted to add somebody to the lineup right now where you're like, "Okay, we, we have a hole here that we want to improve on,"

there's a lot of people that I'm getting questions from people about Cedric Mullins, right? And I'm saying, "Okay, well, how do we upgrade on that?" And I'm like, in my head I'm thinking, "When Jacob Melton is healthy and comes back in triple A, he is going to be that piece." They already have him, they just haven't been able to lean on him [00:26:00] yet.

Another one would be in the catcher position, right? Where, we were talking about, about a few shows ago about Hun- Hunter Feduccia not really seeming to be fully comfortable. Right. He's seeming to come around now, like he's, he's getting his groove on at the plate, and he doesn't seem like he's pushing as hard as he was before.

He's waiting for those right pitches and, uh, and he's on top of them when he gets them. So I'm curious to see like where he can take it. Fortes has been great overall. So- Yeah ... again, you're not really seeing a black hole. You're sort of like, "Okay, well, yeah, we could go..." So the point is, you've got a really good team right now and then you

Basically, it's like one of those hands-off things where you're like, "I'm not touching this thing. As it's riding along- Yeah. Yeah ... I don't wanna break anything." So yeah, it's nice to see. 

Mark Corbett: , It's unfortunate we have a few guys out right now, Matz and Pepiot. Mm-hmm. And but when I was looking across the dugout and not seeing Alejandro Kirk- [00:27:00] 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm

Mark Corbett: you know, and who's it, Crochet I think is another one who's not with the Jays right now, and that, that's kind of critical. And plus, we've talked before about some of the changes that they've made. Next week we will have a very special guest and a friend of ours, Brent Cardy of The Cardy Show, he's gonna be joining us and w- we'll have to ha- have him help us dissect what's going on with the Jays.

Mat Germain: They're, they're having issues with their pen as well, and I, I think like that's one thing that we haven't really touched on yet today, , where the Rays have had to- jumbled things up because , they traded away Pete Fairbanks. And, uh, and they've brought in some surprising names, like, to, to kind of fill in as they need them.

Uh, today they got back Garrett Clevenger, which is great. Ian Seymour has been awesome from the beginning. But the Casey Legumina, or I, I'm sh- I know I'm saying it wrong. I, I'm, I'm just torching that name.

Terrible. But he's come out of nowhere, and he's actually looked pretty [00:28:00] solid. Like, they've put him, him in in key spots. Cole Sulser's had a few saves. But more than anyone, like Brian Baker, like- Mm-hmm ... the revelation that he's been, and how many Rays fans tore him apart last year at the end of the season because of all the struggles he was having once they acquired him from Baltimore.

But now he's really looking like, a- and I've noted him a couple of times, where he looks hungry. He wants the ball. He wants to attack the, the oppon- opposing team's best hitters, and that's what you want in a closer, right? So when, when you're talking about him already to this point having nine saves, that's impressive, right?

Oh, yeah. That's, that's a huge part of it. And, and in terms of blown saves, I mean, you're not really seeing very much on that end, but he's got two of them. But I, I think they were early in the season, and he was still kind of trying to find his legs. He's got 15 K's over 13 innings, and he's only allowed three walks.

Mark Corbett: Wow. 

Mat Germain: So again, we're talking about, [00:29:00] like, wanting somebody that's aggressive and in the zone. He's not walking anyone. When you're talking about relief, walks are your enemy. Like, they're, they're definitely gonna drive the, the manager nuts and your team nuts overall, so. I think the Rays are in a good place when it comes to the pen, and, and I just wanna note this, Mark.

Like, their pen is strong. It's one of the top five in the league right now in terms of overall performance. But they don't have Manuel Rodriguez, Edwin Uceta, who was a really key piece last year, and Steven Wilson, who they had brought in to try to be one of those, um, veteran leader kind of guys in the pen this year and, and he's just ended up being hurt during spring training.

So, those are three key guys that they were gonna supposedly lean on. So to be able to fill those holes with other guys and still get the performance is really nice to see.

Mark Corbett: No, it, it is good to see, and [00:30:00] I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. But I, it's looks like a, a team that is gelled. Like you were talking about those first few weeks, a lot of players, it didn't seem like they had their legs, or it didn't seem like there was a, a unity. There wasn't a gelling of the team, and all that seems to be taking place now, so I'm very happy that, about that.

Uh, are you ready to talk about the MOU? 

Mat Germain: Uh, do we have to, Mark? 

Mark Corbett: No, we don't have to. 

Mat Germain: No, no, go ahead. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, gosh. 

Mat Germain: But you d- you know more about it than I do. I read up on it. Honestly to be qu- like, fully honest- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, yeah ... 

Mat Germain: I read it on five different sites, and I was like, "I don't know what they're talking about here."

It- Thank you ... there's, there's no, there's no forward motion here. It's just basically restating what we already knew. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, I feel like I'm in a, a daze in St. Petersburg. You get over there with the council and the commissioners as well, and it's just like, I was reading one of the articles today, and [00:31:00] something to the effect where Ken Babby said that if things weren't gonna happen within a certain timeframe, we could possibly losing state support.

Mm. And I thought... Or, and indicating finance. I thought, "Uh-uh. No. No." I, I, I, I... Maybe he's talking about the campus itself, but alls I thought is no. And MOU, no. I thought moo is what I saw. Moo. A big moo. A big cow. So right now it is... Right now it means nothing to me. The city is obviously not going to be pushed, and it sounds a lot like St.

Pete, 'cause you're hearing certain city officials saying, "Well, we've asked for documentation and some other materials, and have not seen anything as of yet." And yeah, if that's the case, there's not gonna be a lot of movement. But, but we're just asking, you know, for... You're guessing, like a letter of intent.

You, you really wouldn't work and do it with us, would you? Right. Why, why, why would, why would somebody sign something like that if they don't feel like [00:32:00] something's being done with good faith right now? Well, we can't talk about that, 'cause there's still a lot of priority stuff that hasn't been set. And if that's the case, if the Rays are saying that there's pieces like that, would you invest in a business that's just, they're still trying to get all their finance and, uh, s- pieces together yet?

I, I don't know. It leaves a- 

Mat Germain: So there's a lot of big questions in there, and, and one of the ones that I have that always comes to mind is, okay, where... Like, and everybody's asking the same question. Where is the money going to come from, right? And, and so what locked it in for St. Petersburg? Why did they agree to that deal with Stu way back when?

Uh, and I'll tell you exactly why. Please. 'Cause they took responsibility for the cost overruns. 

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. So 

Mat Germain: the only thing that I saw today that is, would tell me, okay, they- could potentially sell things to taxpayers because the Rays supposedly are willing to [00:33:00] be on the hook for any cost overruns that come from the build itself, right?

Mark Corbett: Yep. 

Mat Germain: And that's a big piece. Like, that's... I- if you've got certainty and you've got whatever, like, how many times do we see transit things, you know, they sign for a billion dollars, next thing you know it's eight billion, and you're like, "What? How did that happen," right? So as a city, you can't have that. Like, that- Yeah

that is just, that'll, that'll make people super angry, and, uh, you end up like the Boston, I think it's the Big Dig, when they had the, those cost overruns- Oh, yeah ... from what the governor signed there. That's, that's sketchy. Um- 

Mark Corbett: Mm. 

Mat Germain: But yeah, so when I saw that, I was like, okay, well that's one quote unquote Olive Branch.

They're trying to paint it as, okay, well now we're only asking for one billion instead of 1.5. Uh, 1.15. So really, they're asking for the exact same amount that Orlando has already guaranteed them. Yep. So they're no worse for the wear. Like, the owners are sitting there pretty because they have Orlando on the hook, and they're just [00:34:00] basically fishing now with a fish on the hook, and if they're trying to fish another fish.

And so if it happens, great. If not, they'll walk away and they'll go to Orlando and, and they'll be, in, in the same state two hours away. Or they'll ask for bids for other p- people and possibly get an even sweeter deal in Nashville or somewhere else. And I think sadly, the city is in the worst position of them all because they have to try to figure this thing out without losing their heads, without losing their, their support while trying to put taxpayers on the hook at a time when, Mark, like we're just starting to see the inklings of job losses, like from- Yeah

AI, from, robotics and everything else. , It's going to explode in the near future in terms of- Oh, yeah ... so how do you sell, , spending a billion dollars? , Just to paint you a picture, a billion dollars buys you a gigafactory, right? Mm-hmm. If you're gonna grow food in a [00:35:00] gigafactory to feed people at a cheap rate so that they can have affordable food, that is an investment that if you told Tampa population that, they would be behind it 1,000%.

Mark Corbett: Oh, yeah. 

Mat Germain: And they would say, "Spend it. Billion dollars to feed us for cheap? We're in." But a billion dollars to have something shiny in the middle of your city while you're starving, that is not very 

attractive. 

Mark Corbett: No, 

no, no, no. And, and I mean, I think that it's kind of interesting 'cause if you look, I think it really is a better fit for Orlando, as much as I hate to say that.

Yeah. And I think that might be the case. You know, I'm, I'm looking though, uh, this is broad strokes here. Looking out in Vegas- And you'll find a lot of folks are saying Vegas isn't what Vegas was 10 years ago as far as the number of people that are coming and the amount of money that's being spent. I don't know that'll be the case with Orlando, but I truly believe that's where, where it's all gonna wind up.

I hope I'm wrong. I really do. Mm. And Ken Babby, forgive me, buddy, but that's, that's [00:36:00] the way I see it right now, much like Matt. I, and I, I have trouble spending that money, for something like that. Oh, Mat, let's go completely extraneous from all this stuff. I saw one today, and it was about a gentleman how many years ago, he had , taken I can't remember which team it was. He'd taken them to task because they were taking hot dogs up a nickel. And this is, like, 30, 40 years ago, probably more than that. And he took them to task, and this dude did the research. I had to find it and put it... We'll talk about it sometime. It's funny. But there's the things that change year to year, and I, I have no idea.

I haven't priced food and all that at the Trop, and I haven't gone. I'm going to. I was starting to go today. But anyway, this, it's gonna be interesting to see the different kinds of foods, and I see that they're really great about making sure they promote it during the show, bringing it down to Doug Waechter, et cetera.

And it, and it amuses me. I, that, it doesn't bother me. But what was also interesting, Mat, is what's [00:37:00] happening between the commercial breaks. Mm. And it tells me a lot about maybe who's supporting the Rays. United Mortgage, Home Mortgage, which is obviously, you know, 'cause I don't know if Zalupski has any o- ownership in that, but obviously him being big with real estate, I could see that tie-in.

But what I'm not seeing is, you used to see a lot of auto dealers, local auto dealer ads. And maybe it's because whoever's managing it now, going through MLB or whatever, and they've sought out others or... But it, it's, it's the little f- things that are different. When you walk into a room and maybe they changed the color or the shade of that one wall by just a nth.

It was, oh, yeah, it was egg yellow cream, and now it's just vanilla cream. You know, French vanilla cream. And it's like, yeah, y- you feel something different. And some of the things that, familiar with that aren't there this year. I'm just curious. I, I'll, I'm cur- I'm, I'll probably have to reach out to some of these car dealers and find out what their association is with the, , the Rays now.

[00:38:00] Yeah. Sponsorships and, and what you're promoting, like, i- it's a good question, especially when we relate it back to the stadium deal. 

Oh, 

Mat Germain: yeah. I, I know Stu talked about this constantly, how the naming rights were gonna be such a big deal because they were gonna, use that for the majority of the yearly payments that they were making on the loan that they get.

Normally, 

when you get a stadium build, the financials are so friendly it's sickening, to be quite honest, in terms of, no interest and all this stuff. 

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. 

Mat Germain: So- , you could argue that a lot of times they're making money off of what they're paying off , with tax and everything else, like all , the deductions that they get to make for, uh, capital cost allowances and a whole bunch of other things.

But I don't know this is the thing, like I related back to when Stu had the, the 100 corporations or whatever that he was trying to line up to help- ... drum up support, and it just wasn't there. And, and honestly, I haven't seen that [00:39:00] rekindled at all. 

Mark Corbett: No. 

Mat Germain: And I haven't seen any momentum corporate-wise that tells me things have changed significantly.

They're different, but they're not, , amped up to the point where you're like, "Oh, well, these guys," like, these big players are in there. Like, no, they're just sort of like, okay, you had this medium-sized group here, now you have this medium-sized group there. It's like half in one, half in the other.

So- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. I don't look behind me and I see Bezos and Zuckerberg there- Yeah ... running right behind me to 

Mat Germain: Right. Or a big fish, like a big, you know, somebody- Hmm ... that it might exist down the road. I don't know. Like, there might be something else in play. But I, like, like I told you before, I think, I think this was a real estate deal.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. When 

Mat Germain: it, when this falls through and they go to Orlando or somewhere else, they'll be able to use that land for other investments that they already have in mind, and, and they'll do well with those. 

Mark Corbett: I am going to dig up and, um, a show [00:40:00] recorded a long time ago with a professional league and, but it was a minor league level.

I can't even remember which one it was. It's been like three years ago. And he was kind of a pioneer of all this, even at a minor league level, getting money for a new s- new ballpark, but also for business development around it. And at the time, I was just totally aghast and couldn't believe anything like that would happen.

And obviously it's, it's just part of the landscape now, and people can either accept it and change it or not. But I, I think I have to find that again, 'cause it's sometimes it's interesting to go back and say, "Oh, huh, that was, that actually happened there before it became here. Hmm. Curious." Anyway. No, it's interesting seeing the things that have changed and the s- the things that are the same.

I'm really looking forward to going to the Trop and seeing my first Rays game in the new Trop and enjoying that experience. It looks great from what I see on TV. I don't know. Hopefully Kara and I can go together here soon. I started to go today and said, "Nah, no." I [00:41:00] got ... Not feeling 100% today, so I decided to, uh, watch it, and it's great.

The team's great. I am just so thankful that they're here. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: And I hope we are able to keep them 

Mat Germain: Yeah. We'll see. , There, there's definitely, uh, there's definitely the room for that to happen. , It's not like they're on their way out right now, but that, that clock that Ken Babby has put in that says,, by July they need a deal essentially- Yeah

or else, things get tight in terms of build timings. There's also the other angle where ultimately if they are committed to Tampa for whatever reason- 

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm ... 

Mat Germain: you know, nothing says they can't extend you know, with St. Petersburg for a year. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: You know, they, they can't add a year and say, "You know what?

We're not able to lock it in. We're still interested. Let's add a year." St. Petersburg just spent how much on that roof? They're not gonna say no to extending it- No ... by a year or two. So, uh, you know, there's that angle as well where, you know, the fans that have been waiting since 2008 for [00:42:00] a solution can- Oh, yeah

c- continue to wait, continue to wait, and, uh, we keep having this conversation. And Mark, you'll, you'll be dreaming about our conversations about the stadium- Oh, boy ... forever. 

Mark Corbett: Jeez, brother. Jeez, don't say that. Hey, I do wanna cover quickly too about what's going across the, the rest of the league here. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm.

Mark Corbett: Now, , couple weeks ago you were talking about really looking closely at what was happening with the, , National League Central. Mm-hmm. And it is still great guns there, man. I mean, that is the only division that - all of their teams, I believe, are 500 or above. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. They're looking great.

And, , , the Pirates, they're, they're still kind of, uh, finding their sea legs. Yeah. Uh, but again, they're, like, they're facing some pretty tough teams. Uh, they've, they've kept the runs off the board. They just haven't ... What I've noticed with them is they have, like, a big game, and then they, they have a hard time scoring after that.

So [00:43:00] I think a lot of it is tied to youth, like the inconsistencies. But, you know, d- you look across the league. So if we do it just in terms of, like, where are the races, like, who's, who's coming out, you know, and, and being kind of front runners across the board- Mm-hmm ... you've got, uh, in the West NL West, it's the Dodgers and Padres.

They're, they have, like, a, a four-game lead on, on Arizona between the two of them, so it's like a two-team race essentially at this point. In the Central, like you just said, they're all within five games of each other, - Amazing , that's five teams that are kind of in that same glut. So it, it's gonna be a, just a battlefield.

Then you go over to the NL East and it's so sad, Mark. You've got the, uh, the Braves that are nine games ahead of the Phillies. So they, they are, like, already the lead horse. You know, you ever watch- Geez ... one of those races where you're like, "The horse just took off. What? Did he [00:44:00] take off before the gun went?

Like, what happened?" 

Mark Corbett: Well, that happened at the Derby. You know, they had a great white horse. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, yeah. 

Mat Germain: So, uh, so that's what's going on in the NL East, so they're pretty much on their own. Now, you have to wonder when the Mets are gonna start selling, because they're just- They're not having a fun time.

They won the last two, so they do have some, some hope. But the Athletics are kind of in that the saddest division, I think, in all of baseball, where the AL West has only one team above .500 and it's just above .500. The Athletics are one game above. The rest of them are all, just under .500 or the Astros and Angels are, pretty much at the bottom of the rankings for, , for the, American League. And then you have the, you know, everybody under .500 in the AL Central, and the Rays and the Yankees showing off in front of everyone else in the AL East. So, you know, all together, it's not exactly a [00:45:00] league that paints a picture of, of many cities being in the positive side, right?

Like, there's a very a feast or famine feel right now, except for that NL Central. That's why it is the most exciting division right now- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: because all five teams are actually in it for the battle, and they're in it for the wild cards as well. 

Mark Corbett: Let's take one last measure of that too.

The American League has three teams .500 above. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: National League then has nine? Let's check. You got... Is that right? Yeah. Good Lord. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. Geez Louise. You know, if it keeps going that way, I'd be surprised, but that's kind of crazy. 

Mark Corbett: They might kick out the American League, say, "You guys, you know, come on.

We're gonna bring another league in here if you're gonna be... Oh, other, get some other divisions." Like, oh, geez. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. What are your thoughts on, on the redoing the divisions? Like, is that gonna be- [00:46:00] Ah ... coming around? Is that the next step before they do... Do they do it before or after they do expansion? 

Mark Corbett: I think you have to wait till after expansion.

I think it would be too crazy to do it now and then say, "Okay, now where are we gonna fit the other teams in? Let's figure this out, 'cause you, if you brought in an extra team, then you have just one for each, American and one, uh, National League. Then suddenly you're there with 16 teams, so you have what?

Four divisions. You break them at four divisions of four each. I think that would be the way to go. Or do we go back to your re-league, re-league or de-league-legization that you have a team on each, uh, one on American, one on National League, has to fight to stay in there. I 

Mat Germain: think personally that's what I would do.

Uh-huh. I, I would, I would create a 12 team league- 

Mark Corbett: Oh ... 

Mat Germain: that is below the major leagues and, and form it that way. I, I, [00:47:00] I firmly believe that's the way of the future for Major League Baseball. Way. If they want to grow, if they want to make significant money, if they want to make sure they don't lose, all of the fans to soccer down the road-

they need to build a second league. Because just that anxiety of moving up or down is going to be enough to keep fans interested and invested, right? Like, think of it this way, if you're a gambling person, be- Mm. I know you are, Mark. Yeah. So before the, the season starts, the, , you go to Vegas or you go on online on whatever site you're using, which there's hundreds of them now and you put 100 bucks on a team moving up from one league to the other.

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: Or you do the same thing for the opposite. You do whatever. Like, there's so many opportunities then for that to happen. And, and honestly, I don't see many other areas where now that you have gambling, you have food, you have [00:48:00] stadiums, you have everything else, where's the growth? And all of these owners are basing their investments on growth, and that's what's driven the value of franchises from, you know, what it used to be when, when Steinbrenner bought the Yankees, you know, for a buck, and then all the way up to what it is now.

Like, they need that extra step, and yet- Yeah ... only extra step I can see is if you're able to get $12 billion from owners that are gonna build stadiums, and then drive up the, again, you get another TV deal, you get another this, you get another that, yada, yada, yada. Now, having said that, there is the point where if you're one of those teams that's gonna get relegated, you're, you're at risk.

But, you know, there's only, in theory, up to 12 teams- 

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. ... 

Mat Germain: that would fall into there. So you can get 18 MLB owners that are sick and tired of watching owners eat money, right? Yeah. And, and not spend it, [00:49:00] that, that would be, "Okay, we're, we're in. We'll do this because we're gonna get X money." And

that whole, I imagine if they ever did it, the formulas for who gets what money from who and how everything gets balanced, that would change completely as well. Oh, yeah. 

Mark Corbett: It would 

Mat Germain: have to. Yeah, you'd have to revamp that significantly. And Major League Baseball Players Association is not gonna say no to that because all of their players are gonna get more money- 

Mark Corbett: Sure

Mat Germain: and they're gonna get poached from one team to the other, and get bonuses and add in all kind of incentives if they get traded, if they get sold from one team to another. You know, like, that's just gonna drive up the prices of all the players, so they're not gonna s- get in the way. So again, I don't see any obstacles to it.

The only real obstacle you have to it is the initial having to build stadiums in those cities that are of- ... substantial enough size, but we've minimized that so much now- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: to the point where 20,000, 25,000 fans is [00:50:00] plenty. Like, they're happy with that now, right? 'Cause that's not really where the money is for the majority of it.

Mark Corbett: No, no. I mean, but if we're, we're talking about the, what the Rays are talking about here, that's gonna be a problem. But if you look at other stadiums, if you look at some that are preexisting and you're actually bringing new teams in, uh, I think there's a whole other sense of excitement about that, and I think that new owners would be more open to that than those who already own a, one of the 30 teams.

Yeah. So we'll see. We'll have to get Jane Leavy back on here. 

Mat Germain: I don't think the Yankees are scared about getting relegated. 

Mark Corbett: No. I 

Mat Germain: don't think the, I don't think the Dodgers are. I don't think... Well, maybe the Mets are. They, they would be one. 

Mark Corbett: God bless them. God bless them. Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Poor Steve Cohen. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, gosh. You know, and, and you know what I liked about Steve Cohen is he's a fan.

He and his wife are fans of the team. That's why they bought them, you know? And I thought, "Well, he's gonna buy a World Series his first year there, second year tops," you [00:51:00] know? It's, what's it been, four or five years now that he's owned them and it's gotta hurt, man, 'cause I do believe he's made investments.

And I, I wonder if it's hurt him professionally as far as people saying, "Well, you know, I've seen what you've done with your investments in baseball," so I don't know. 

Mat Germain: There's an argument to be made where the best move that they could make right now is to trade Francisco Lindor. 

Mark Corbett: Hmm. 

Mat Germain: Because if you look at the consistent underperformer all the way through, I'm not saying he underperformed, but his teams have underperformed.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: He's the one consistent throughout all those years. He's still young enough that he can get really good value even though he's owed still a significant amount of money. It opens up the books for him to make other investments with other players and, and more than anything, to remake the, um, The mentality and the direction of the team so that it takes new leadership.

As long as Francisco [00:52:00] Lindor is there, that leadership is going to follow him. 

Mark Corbett: Hmm. 

Mat Germain: And, and I don't feel like he's exactly ... Like, I remember him and Javy Báez having their fun on the field and, and the way that they kind of had that immature, you know, reaction to things going on. It ... Yeah. If I was, uh, an owner of that team, that's where I would start.

I would tell my GM, "Just go out and, uh, and find the best deal you can for him, and we'll move on, and we'll make a, a go of it next year with, with different players." 

Mark Corbett: Well, are there any other rocks that we need to look under right now before, uh, we move on? 'Cause I kn- I think there's a hockey game going on here shortly, if not 

Mat Germain: already.

Yeah, yeah. It's, uh ... They're down two-nothing right now. I'm watching- Oh, good Lord ... the, the score and the ... So I'm not missing anything. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, brother. Yeah. Well. 

Mat Germain: The, uh, the only other thing I would say is the, the Rays system, like, I was down on it at the beginning of the year because they were having a hard time.

They were really [00:53:00] not getting, ahead. But now they've got three teams leading their divisions, so everybody but the Durham Bulls are, are, uh, are leading the way and might make the playoffs because all the, the, the minor leagues now are, are set up where you have a first-half winner, and then you have a, a second-half winner.

Gotcha. , And they, they face off in the playoffs. So,, they, they have things coming along. A lot of people returning , , from injuries. , And the performances of some of the players that they've obtained recently are really fun to watch. , The pitching is starting to turn, so, , again, the minor league system is what keeps the machine going for the Rays.

And, uh, no doubt in my mind they'll make some deals shortly to, to amp up the roster and use some of that, uh, prospect capital to do it. 

Mark Corbett: Well, uh, on that note, I wanna thank you, Mat- and I wanna remind folks the minor league games, there's a lot to see there. Uh, tomorrow I'm looking at possibly going to the University of Tampa Division One t- uh, [00:54:00] excuse me, Division Two team playing in a collegiate team, so I'm looking forward to seeing that.

Uh, one other little note I'm gonna throw in here. Down in Sebring, Florida, Avon Park, they're opening up a s- baseball museum down there, so there's a lot of different things going on. If you don't have the money to go to a major league game, find that local parks and rec, find that minor league team, find that collegiate and high school team and enjoy it, 'cause baseball's out there for you, and you can find some affordable way to enjoy it. So that's what I'll leave with. 

Mat Germain: Perfect. 

Mark Corbett: All right. Well, thank you all once again for joining us here today on BaseballBiz On Deck, and we look forward to talking to you all again- Real soon.

Mat Germain: Bong.

Mark Corbett: Oh,