Rays Rough Road Trip & Craig Kimbrel joins the Tampa Bay Rays

356 RaysUp BaseballBiz Tampa Bay Rays

Mark Corbett: [00:00:00] Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett and, of course, with me is my good buddy, Mr. Mat Germain, and he is sitting in a germ-proof room away from me at this moment, which we are very thankful for. And hey, Mat, how you doing, buddy? 

Mat Germain: I wouldn't call it germ-proof, but, uh, definitely far away from your sickness, that's 

Mark Corbett: for sure.

That's ... Well, that's germ-proof. Any- anywhere t- 10 feet away from me, you're probably doing okay. Oh, my gosh, brother, it has been such an exciting part of the year this ... With the Rays and ... But my gosh, this road trip is h- it's painful. It's downright painful. I mean, right now, here we are, it's Wednesday early evening, and we're watching the beginning of the Rays', uh, last of their games in Baltimore, thank you, God, and, uh, it is not pretty at all, Matt.[00:01:00] 

I mean, what it was. 

No, Steve Matz. I, I was really looking forward to seeing something really good here. But tell us about this first inning 

Mat Germain: Yeah, no, it, it's just ugly. Right now they're losing five-nothing and, and, you know, they're still, uh, potentially adding on here. Um, I, I ne- I, you know, it's the second time that they see Matz this year, and it seems to me like they, they know what the plan of attack is, uh, on his end, and they're, they're just feasting on it right now.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So, um, it, it's one of those things where, you know, if you're catching the teams in a wrong time, and right now it seems like the Orioles lineup is starting to get it together, um, then you're gonna pay a price, right? And, uh, you have to execute everything perfectly to get around that, and, and the Rays just aren't getting to that point right now.

I have to say Ward, who's at the plate right now, he's been one of their catalysts and, and he's really, , provided that, that steady presence that the [00:02:00] Orioles needed. Yeah. And he's been persistently good despite all their trials and tribulations this year., He's somebody that's, , has to be growing on a lot of Orioles fans right now in terms of his performance and in how he's helped, uh, bring some maturity to the team.

And, and Alonso has picked it up as well recently. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Well, it's b- it's been fun watching them. It's always interesting to me, you and I talk about it so much too, as far as the X-rays. And this week, yesterday, oh my gosh, we were watching Tuesday's game and seeing Shane Baz, formerly of the Rays. He's looking better than ever, man.

He, he's just looking fantastic. And if I got tired of looking at him, I get to see our old buddy Kitteridge come in after that. But Shane Baz's performance was superior, and much so more so than what anything he did for us in the past. He was a good pitcher here. He's a better pitcher there 

Mat Germain: Yeah. I mean, stuff-wise, Shane Baz has always had it.

Nobody, you know, [00:03:00] argues with that. That's why the Orioles p- play, uh, paid a premium p- price to bring him aboard and, uh, and they've signed him to an extension as well, I believe. So they, um, they're, they're gonna have him around for a while, and as long as he stays healthy, he's going to have his moments where he just looks utterly dominant and you look foolish at the plate.

So, you know, when you talk about the rotation and having some stability, and then you see what they dealt away in Grayson Rodriguez and how much he's struggling, I mean, that replacement, you know, the, the, they, they were the right moves. Everything hasn't really worked out for the Orioles yet, but they, we've acknowledged that they have the potential to go on a run, right?

And right now for the Rays, it feels like the beginning of the season was just this steady, you know, the beginning of a rollercoaster ride? Yeah. Where you're going click, click, click, click, click up the top. And now they're on the downward trend, like where they've gone over the top a- and they're just sort of trying to find the first turn to get back up on the [00:04:00] upward trend again.

Um, I thought Matz might do it today, but because he's such a veteran presence. But you can tell, like, they, they, they definitely had a good plan of attack against him. 

Mark Corbett: Well, yeah, th- this looks like they figured him out. It is still just the bottom, well, they just concluded the bottom of the first inning, and they put up five, meaning the Orioles five to the Rays zip-a-rino.

So that is a bit painful. But it's, it's nonetheless, looking at what we saw in the game the other day and talking about, uh, seeing Baz and seeing Kittredge do their piece, I was not anticipating, , who I'd see pitching for the Rays in the eighth inning if you had asked me last week at this time, that I would be seeing Craig Kimbrel, their, uh, future Hall of Famer.

I mean, s- what is his... I don't know if we're, uh, his 11th or 12th team, but this man is amazing. 

Mat Germain: I am, I am a huge Craig Kimbrel fan, and I've always believed the Rays would be able [00:05:00] to get him locked in because he, he's one of those guys who no longer, like for the last five to six years, can't just rely on stuff, right?

Yeah. He has to, to use more, um, metrics to get him in the right areas at the right time with the right pitch mix to be effective, as well as executing and getting those locations. I think the Rays will give him a game plan that can actually, like he won't return to a dominant Aroldis Chapman style closer, but he will probably be in the upper, you know, maybe 15 in the league, which is fine for the Rays for what they need.

If you offset him with Baker and you're able to work off of each other, and then you're not asking Baker to be there every night- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: and have somebody else, especially with Garrett Clevinger trying to find his game again. That's where C- Clevinger's role was supposed to be, and he just hasn't performed.

And when you took Jax out of those options, that really kind of left a hole. [00:06:00] And I think, you know, uh, I know it's a cheap option because he was there, he was free, he was willing to come aboard. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: But, but I like it. I, I think there's intrigue there. There's potential. Um, there's other guys that they've brought in and that are, that are going to compete for, for, you know, a role.

But we're in May, Mark. Like, there's a long time to figure out the back end of the pen, and there's other options like we mentioned, Aroldis Chapman potentially being a trade target or others So, I mean, this isn't the be all end all. So for them to trial it between now and the trade deadline and say, "Okay, what do you got?"

And then take a look, I like the move. It, it's inexpensive and honestly they had, they had some guys in there that they, they definitely didn't seem comfortable using in, in certain key moments. And they've got some guys that are really having a hard time finding their stuff. Mm. Like Hunter Bigge is an example of somebody that's just, he's working through things and mechanicals, [00:07:00] and I don't know if, if when he got unhealthy, if, if when he came back, he was leaning too much on the elbow or the shoulder more so than before.

But something looks different and, uh, and he's gotta find his groove again. Between that and the other pitching move that I wanted to talk about, Mark, is, uh, you know, you had Jesse Scholten go on the, uh, the IL and they brought in Jonathan Heasley. Now, the Rays have been renowned, like Zack Littell is an example of a mature product who they brought in and they revamped and they kind of worked through getting more out of him than other franchises could.

I see this addition as, as an- another potential of the same caliber. Because what I saw with Durham is at a time when they were struggling to get any sort of traction with any of their pitching, he was an outlier. He was one of those few guys who you could tell had bought into everything the Rays were selling.

And at his age, he [00:08:00] definitely has to if he wants to earn a shot again. And, and now he's just throwing caution to the wind and going with their plan. And, and it's working for him. I mean, he's only at the 65 to 75 pitch range right now, but if you get him into the 80, 90 range, he's a four to five inning pitcher.

And right now they need that. They need guys to step in and really fill some of the gaps. They can't just rely on two to three innings from guys. And Griffin Jax gave him two innings his last outing. I think you're seeing some of that gas, is turning on. , You may see that again with Shane McClanahan and others.

So you wanna mitigate that as much as possible. So the more innings they're able to get , out of some mature arms that they can bring in, the better off they'll be 

Mark Corbett: Well, that's, that's going to be critical. , Especially as you were talking about the bullpen has not been everything that we would hope in the last, few games what we've seen out there, and some guys are struggling.

Uh, I'm hoping Kimbrel brings, uh, a life to [00:09:00] it. Uh, I, I don't know. I wa- I was surprised but it, that, it seems timely. And we'll, we'll see, buddy. I, I'm looking though at other guys that are relatively new. I mean, Dunn, Dunn, he spent a few weeks with us now. It ... You know, he's looking good. Looks like he had trouble finding the base when he needed to tag somebody the other day at second, but, you know, he did all in all.

And, and before we go, I, I, I want to give kudos to him 'cause he's, he's done some good things with the team. I'm just picking on him a little bit there. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: You know, I mean, so it's the fresh blood there, and it's ... Oh, the y- oh, new guy, Mesa. Mesa, bringing him. Oh, geez, my knees. Uh, are you pleased? I am. I mean, he's, he's got an, an, uh, an energy, you know, about him, I think, and that's something this team needs to constantly keep up.

You know, we don't always have these, uh, Willy Adames out there every time, and so this, we need some energy, and it doesn't always have to come from just one person. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: So seeing it from him, I think, is, [00:10:00] is definitely gonna make a difference. Uh, uh, I'm jumping around a little bit back here, but I did want to s- look, to give you a, a read on one, some of the information I saw on Kimbrel.

Let's see. He has had, this is a report the other day, 440 saves. He, I didn't realize that 2011 was his rookie year, and he was the National League Rookie of the Year back then. Let's see. Uh, 2018 World Series champion, five-time All-Star. Not surprised there at all. This is the one I absolutely love, this one.

13.9 career strikeouts per nine innings. That's his average. Granted, he's a closer, and it's gonna be stronger than, than s- a st- a starter or anybody else, but 13.9. Geez, b- crackers, brother. What a pitcher and what kind of talent does that say? And yeah, he's a future Hall of Famer 

Mat Germain: Yeah, he'll be close. A- and it depends a lot, like you've seen it before with relievers especially, where the end of their careers matters [00:11:00] because it's what takes them from one tier to the next.

And so he definitely needs another really strong... And this is, could be th- could be it. It could be this year and next with the Rays. Like, that could be enough to propel him, especially if they make the playoffs and he's able to shine there. 'Cause we've seen certain people get more accolades. Andy Pettitte is a, is a good example of somebody that gets more kudos because of his performances in the playoffs, uh, even though his stats overall are sort of mediocre.

, But thing that , I'm curious about , with Craig Kimbrel is the, uh, the walks, right? Like, so strikeout hitters, uh, strikeout hitters, strikeout pitchers is fine and it's great. As you age, you probably strike out fewer and that's expected, right? Because your velocity's down, the sharpness of your pitches may not be as, , evident as what it used to be.

But if you're not walking people, then that's the, the part that you can control- Yeah ... and [00:12:00] get, and keeps you out of trouble. So when you're looking at his walk rate with the Rays so far, um, you know, it's gone down from 14... Or with the Rays, I say. In 2026 so far. I shouldn't say with the Rays. Um, it, it's gone down from 14% last year to 8%.

So you're talking about under 10%. You can work with that, right? And, and there's a, there's a good case to be made that if he's able to modify his pitch mix to the point where he's a little bit more deceptive and, and then, you know, that whole stance that he uses with the arm dangling and- Oh, yeah ... all that stuff.

There, there's a, there's a deceptive kind of feel to his game. And I, I f- I think that that's what the Rays will capitalize on, is to say, "Okay, well, what actually are we seeing in the data that we can tweak?" Not completely overhaul, but just tweak it enough that the other team no longer approaches Craig Kimbrel the same way as they used to.

'Cause if they can attack and [00:13:00] predict, then they, they will have success against him, right? And, and the proof will be when they call on him in the ninth inning, in key moments with people on base, how does he perform? And I'm curious to see over the next few weeks, uh, if he's able to shine in those moments with the Rays and, and with the horse whisperer, uh, telling him what he needs to hear.

, I don't know. There's certain guys they bring in, you just have a little nostalgia that comes to mind, right? And so I'm picturing in my mind, like, the Rays are in a series against the Red Sox, and there's Craig Kimbrel, you know, on the mound, you know, late in the game shutting it down. Yeah.

And, and so that would be, you know, some, a feather in his cap. He's done it against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium many times. I don't think any of those kinds of things will phase him. He's faced the Dodgers. He's gone against the biggest teams. So the Rays, even though they have a good pen, the, when Pete Fairbanks left, they didn't really have that kind of, you know, "Whoa, everybody, we're okay.

We're in a good place. We'll get [00:14:00] it done, yady ya de yada," that kind of guy. And in the playoffs he's been stellar, too, so it's not just like he's a, a regular season closer, right? And, and so I think, I think it, it, like I said, it'll be interesting to, to see where, where he comes up with and, and what they change.

Like, I'll be monitoring what pitches they focus on with him. Mm-hmm. And if he starts changing some of those pitches along the way. Um, because there's a good chance that they'll ask him to do different things. But that Vi- Victor Mesa Jr. addition, I'm, I, it, it sort of confuses me, Mark. And, and I'll tell you why, because Part of my brain says, um, Kevin Cash is a creature of habit.

He'll always lean on the guys that he knows and he likes and he'll give them all the credit. But when I see the tools that Victor Mesa b- brings to the table and the style of play the Rays are using this year, he's the picture perfect model of what they are trying to accomplish. He's got speed, he's got power, he [00:15:00] can hit right-handed pitching, he can go get the ball in the outfield, he makes smart plays, he can steal bases, he can run the bases off the bench.

I mean, he's just the toolsy kind of guy that they need to round out their outfield. So now if you picture him with Ryan Vilade and the rest of the outfield and Chandler Simpson, now you've got that, that integral kind of piece that you could put in center field, especially with Cedric Mullins having defensive issues sometimes late in games or, you know, his bat sometimes going up and down.

You can sort of have a, have a more stable presence and it's, it's sort of the role that I had pictured Jacob Melton, you know, grabbing onto and maybe he'll get there eventually as well in AAA now that he's healthy again. But, um, it, it's nice to see Victor Mesa Jr. have success early on and I hope it continues.

Mark Corbett: Well, I think he's going to be an exciting player to watch this year, period. Mm-hmm. But one thing you were, I'm going to go back to Craig Kimball for just for a second because you mentioned something about his, how he [00:16:00] preps for the pitch. And I, it may be part of w- what he needs to do for himself, but I think we both probably see it's something he does for the batter as well.

When th- when they see him, he does that kinda half bin- half bending over there, leaning in as if he's trying to see exactly where that strike zone is. "And by the way, I'm looking at you two. Th- this is your strike zone. I see it." And then he r- he r- he stands erect and prepares for the pitch. And there's something about that, that whole, uh, methodology, his preparation that, uh, to me, it just, for one, in the audience it's just cool to see, okay?

And two, I, I gotta wonder what it does to the man at the plate. So i- it's a l- It's a lot of fun to watch him. 

Mat Germain: The funny thing is, is it used to be before Pitch Com, right? It, and it was to see the sign. That's originally how it started. He's focusing on what the catcher's giving him sign-wise, right? With Pitch Com you don't need to do that.

That's 

Mark Corbett: [00:17:00] true. Oh, gosh. 

Mat Germain: I wonder sometimes what, what, what's going on in his ear as he's doing that. 

Mark Corbett: That's true. That, that is a good point. I hadn't even thought about that. Mm-hmm. Oh, my gosh, man, the game changes and it stays the same. There's- Yeah ... there's little, uh, pieces of the history of the game, even if it's just the history from a couple years ago, that, uh, some people will still keep, and we'll see how that goes here.

Mat Germain: All right. You know what it should be now? I wanna change his move, Mark, and this is my suggestion. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: You know how he used to lean in with that arm dangling? Mm-hmm. Now he should look to the center field wall, away from the hitter, and, like, touch his ear. Just be like he's listening to the pitch. And completely baffle the hitter at that point.

Mark Corbett: Oh, my gosh. You're terrible. I love it. I do love it though. Man, that's, that's pretty good, man. Can you 

Mat Germain: imagine sort of like a, "Oh, nonchalant. I'm looking at the outfield. You don't really matter." And then just turn around and zip it in. [00:18:00] 

Mark Corbett: Let's keep the game entertaining, people. 

Mat Germain: That's right. Wow. It's gotta ... You gotta have goals, Mark.

Mark Corbett: You gotta have 'em. Jeez, Louise. It is funny. You know, I was looking at, uh, going, Karen and I were looking at going out to Texas and seeing a few games for the 4th of July weekend. But due to some fun with the people where we rent, I've got a very s- tight period of where we gotta move, and unfortunately, it's gonna be that weekend.

So what are we going to do to continue our love of the game? And not going out to Texas right now is we're just gonna go south here in a very short period of time. Go down and watch the Rays play the Marlins, man. That's great. Our good buddy, uh, Lou Schiff, he's hooked me up with some tickets right behind the dugout, and I was like, "Thank you, Lou."

I can't wait to go there. Um- That's 

Mat Germain: awesome. Good for you. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, brother. Looking forward to that. Karen and I are gonna have a good time with that, and have a good time. Let's just, uh, go over there and watch a little bobblehead museum. Have you ever seen that bobblehead museum they've got at Marlins Park?[00:19:00] 

Mat Germain: No, I haven't. 

Mark Corbett: Okay. Imagine if you had a friend who had a, a display of several bobbleheads, and maybe they had them on shelves stacked about six high. Mm. Now imagine, oh, 10 times that width of, of these. And so all of these bobbleheads they've had over the years, I guess. And when you look at this display that's in glass encased or plexiglass encl- case, whatever, they have some kind of vibration going on with that entire cabinet.

So the whole time, the little heads and, and such are bobbling as you, as you go by. 

Mat Germain: You know what it is? It's a heavy guy on the floor above that's just jumping up and down on a trampoline. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, my gosh. Okay. I, I've gotta ask you what, how you feel about this. The tarp's up. All these young men out there in left field, and I know the Rays aren't the only ones doing it, but there they [00:20:00] are all gathering, tearing their shirts off and swinging them like towels, all these bare-chested young men.

You know, I, I thought about going to Wednesday's game last week, and I thought, "Hmm, would I do that?" No. At my age and girth. All right. 

Mat Germain: Here, here's my thoughts on it. The, the, the birth rate is down in the- ... in the entire world, you know? If, if, if a couple of guys taking their shirts off is gonna inch that birth rate up- Okay

you know, a, a slight amount because some girl, you know, fancies that guy in the outfield and decides to, you know, give him a call or go buy him a beer. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, gosh, you are terrible. I'd say no. I saw that, and it was interesting 'cause Karen and I were watching one of the games, and said, "You know, some of these fans and, and m- women were looking fairly, if not necessarily nervous, I'd say uneasy or uncomfortable if they had bought tickets in that particular section."

[00:21:00] Because this isn't like all these guys get together before and do this. It's like, you know, they gather. They see four or five guys, there were four or five other ... Sort of like the beer snakes you see in the stands. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: I put something on Blue Sky- To the effect that I loved it because it was a fan activity and an event almost that had absolutely nothing to do with the promotion that was generated via the organization itself.

So that- I- Go ahead. Yeah, 

Mat Germain: I would compare it with going to the beach. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: I mean, if you see a guy in a swimsuit at the beach and, and he's swinging around a, a T-shirt, are you really gonna care? No. You're gonna be like, "Hey, this is normal. It's the beach." So what's the big deal with it being a f- Now, having said that, if they're spilling beer on people- Yeah

if they're being obnoxious, if they're cursing, swearing, you know, all that, all those kinds of things, sure. But from what I've seen in the videos, and, and correct me if I'm wrong, but most of them are just acting jubilant in, in certain [00:22:00] situations. And, and the rest of the time they're watching the game like everybody else.

So I, I applaud it. I think, you know, we, we need some feelgood moments in life- Yeah ... right now, and, and we need some, uh, um, exuberance. Like, uh, there's a lot of things that I'm seeing now where people are starting to come out of their shells a little bit after COVID had kind of shut them in so much from society and, and kind of changed the mood, where now there's a, there's a change in flow.

Like for example, in, in the high school here, um, and I don't know if this happens in the States, but they've got this game that they, that they do where they squirt each other with water guns. And, and it's like a mercenary game or whatever. So, you know, any time after school you're open game and, and you don't know if you're one of the hunted or the huntees and, and there's all these things that go on, and it, it's a competition, and everybody h- gives a certain amount of money to get in.

And then at the end, the, the winner takes all, basically. So i- it's a vicious game. Like, they're very... They'll, they'll have [00:23:00] kids at the end of, of, like let's say you're playing soccer. At the end of the soccer practice, he's running away from all his friends because he doesn't wanna get squirted by the mercenaries.

Mark Corbett: I love it. I love it. 

Mat Germain: Right? 

Mark Corbett: No. So 

Mat Germain: it's an example of where people are finally starting to come out of their shells and have some fun and, and just, you know, change the tune a little bit on life and, and I feel like that's a little example of that. 

Mark Corbett: Well, I, I'll tell you another thing I really ... I, I, I'm glad to hear you say that, 'cause it is, people do need to find joy somewhere.

We talk about that a lot on and off the show. And it is good to see that, whether it's the high school students or the people in, uh, at left, down left field seats, uh, sh- uh, tearing their shirts. . Uh, and twisting them and sh- shaking them. But the thing I enjoy the most of it, even when I had the radio on with that Wednesday game, I could hear them, man.

Matt, I could hear them. And I thought, somebody said something about only 11,000 at that game, but [00:24:00] to hear that fan noise, that in itself gave me a bit of a boost and then, and a bit of hope too. And I gotta believe, I, and I've seen from some of the previous games, whether it be Caminero or Simpson or Yandy Diaz even, you know, reacting to some of what's going on out there.

Either laughing or clamping their hands and pointing over to where those, those people are. And so, it, it, it brings another energy to it. And, uh, speaking of Yandy Diaz, he's up to bat right now. We're top of the third inning. The freaking bases are loaded and there's only one out. It is. Drum roll, please. My gosh, let's make something happen.

Come on, Mr. Diaz, please. But jeez, nibbly. Let's, uh, be a nice place to recoup something here. Uh. 

Mat Germain: Absolutely. A g- little knock over the wall would, would make this a game again. That's, uh, let's hope it happens. Yeah. Um, I, I do have to bring it down, though, for a second, Mark. Because something else significant happened this week that, uh, I don't, I don't honestly know where it leads.

I [00:25:00] don't ... Oh, my goodness, that was a nice pitch. Um, up top of the zone and he got him frozen. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, 

Mat Germain: yeah. Um, so Wander Franco was pardoned. You know? Like, you, you get to a certain point where you realize, you know, where the justice system in the Dominican Republic lo- you know, lands. Yeah. And, and if somebody's gonna bring in hundreds of millions, they're, they're going to side with him.

That's as simple as that. So what we have now is a really complicated case, and it falls on the shoulders of MLB, I believe, to decide what the repercussions are. Now, now hear me out, Mark. We have, we have a political situation in the United States- No ... that is very sensitive to this topic. And so- 

Mark Corbett: There could be files on it somewhere.

I don't know. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. So my, my thought process is this: How much [00:26:00] influence does the government have, in this case, on MLB's decision-making when it comes to Wander? 'Cause there's going to be letters written, requests made- Yeah ... for him to be reinstated and to return to Major League Baseball, and to be provided the money that he's owed.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So, you're talking about a significant chunk of change. I think the guaranteed amount is 182 million overall that he's owed by the Rays. Jeez. So, so this isn't just, you know, a, um... It's going to be a case study for a long time on how leagues, not just Major League Baseball, like it could happen in any other league as well for a variety of different reasons, but similar kind of stakes, you know, how do you deal with that?

It's such a complicated case. You've got the government over there, you've got the government over here, you've got the immigration, you've got the, the laws that are kind of gray in a lot of these areas, where it's almost left to [00:27:00] individual judges to decide. So when you go down to Florida and you pick up the tickets from Lou Schiff, ask him about that and ask him what his take is 

Mark Corbett: on that- Oh, yeah

Mat Germain: particular note. 

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. You know, he's still a judge, and he c- he would not anyway, I don't believe he would. No, I don't think so. Yeah, no. But it's... Yeah, yeah. It, it's a... Oh, gosh. No, it's, it's insane when you see this. I mean, I'm... It's not in- unexpected. . And the way they phrased it though, Mat, at least what I've read, it sounds like, "Yes, we understand he's, he's guilty of these events and all this, but we need to give him a break because he was actually being taken advantage of by that girl's mother."

But they also say that, my understanding is that the girl's mother was getting the money after all this happened, not necessarily that she was actually putting the girl out there. You know, it really doesn't matter. The details don't matter. Uh, s- what matters is that he was there with a, with a 14-year-old girl.

Mat Germain: And- Right. I am not going to step in and, and- Yeah ... save, quote-unquote, Wander Franco [00:28:00] from the situation. 

Mark Corbett: No. 

Mat Germain: Just because the text messages about the situation- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: stated that he was very well aware of what he was involved in. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Right? That was clear as mud. So, , my thought process though, Mark, goes to this.

Let's say worst case scenario for the Rays, MLB opens the doors and says- Yeah ... "You need to pay this individual." What are you gonna do with him? I don't know as an organization how you bring him in and, and parade him in front of the players- Yeah ... and have him excuse himself and blah, blah, blah, and have him play.

So what are their options? 

Mark Corbett: Pay him and g- make him go away. I mean, if that's what they have to do, I got a feeling nobody wants to do that, but I, I would, I don't want to see him paid at all, you know? But if, if they have to pay him and g- tell him to go away, then, then do it. You know, he and, uh, Trevor Bauer can go find some place to play and [00:29:00] have the time of their life as far as I'm concerned.

Start 

Mat Germain: a league of their own. 

Mark Corbett: Um- Yeah, a league of their own, yes. Geez, 

Mat Germain: but- Um, the... So I don't know, like, what, what that reduced... But what does that impact the franchise then over 10 years? You know, you're talking about a period of time where you'll be paying him 25 million to be away. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So that has a serious impact on the franchise as a whole- Mm-hmm

in terms of a hole that it, it digs into the budget. Uh, because no matter what, it's gonna come out of the, the, the team's budget. It's not like they have a, , insurance policy on, on pedophiles. That's not something that exists. So it's, you know- 

Mark Corbett: It's a morals clause, right? I mean, there's something in a morals clause in there that would- 

Mat Germain: Yeah

Mark Corbett: perhaps give some protection on that though, Matt. I don't know. 

Mat Germain: May- maybe. I don't know how that works exactly. Like, where, where he was pardoned, can they still use that? 

Mark Corbett: Well, yeah, 'cause it's outside of this country. It's outside of the United States, and, um, I'd,

Mat Germain: Again, it's a gray area. It's, it's one of those [00:30:00] situations where you don't expect, you know? Uh, like, I'll give you another extreme example, right? If a player is from country X, you name a country in your head, and he commits a murder, but he's eventually found innocent of that murder.

Is he found as a murderer where he was never prosecuted on US soil? It's not like Wander Franco went through a prosecution in the United States. Right. He never went through a legal process in the United States at all. So in the United States legal system, he has no standing. 

Mark Corbett: Point taken So 

Mat Germain: yeah, it, it, again, Mark, I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on TV.

Mark Corbett: No. 

Mat Germain: I'm saying that there's layers to this that are now going to open up because of this case being resolved, quote unquote, in, in the, , Dominican Republic, and then I have a feeling that the Rays are gonna be leaning very hard on MLB to not open the flood [00:31:00] gates and allow him back in. They have to kind of nip it at the bud right there and say, "Nope," like, "Do not let him in because of X, Y, Z," whatever those things are, and then they're okay.

But if they open the door, and again, the political system might come into play in this case. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. So that's my downer of the day, Mark, but we'll, we'll step aside. The Rays are down five-nothing. That's, uh, that's actually- That's the other downer ... a lot happier than that. Right? And overall, , if you step back from the Rays season right now and you look at where things stand, they have the o- second overall pick coming up in the next draft.

They've got a, a compensation pick that they can use in trade if they need to at some point in time, and I, I believe they'll use that when they go out and get a starting pitcher. I do believe that. That'll be part of the, the offering that they, that they put out there. And you've got a, a minor league [00:32:00] system overall, even though Durham is struggling a little bit, the rest of it is looking outstanding.

Yeah. You've got a lot of good stories. They've got the FCL crew that are rocking it, and I'm watching some of the, uh, really young players, like, just really open up some eyes. So there's a lot of good stories out there to be had. Some promotions are going on, like Caden Bodine has moved up a level- Mm ... and a couple of others.

Um, so- We're gonna 

Mark Corbett: need him though.

Mat Germain: Yeah, no, you're right. Like, it's... Y- to, to see the strength in catching down in the minor system is just, you know, it's really encouraging. So, uh, yeah, I don't... Again, they got to a- another run in, so it's six-nothing now. 

Mark Corbett: So we had three men on base and one out, and then we were able to convert that into two outs and then three outs, and nobody came home for the Rays.

Mat Germain: Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Ouch. Yeah. Well, you know, they're, they're gonna get back home. Who knows what this game could finally be, because we're only in the bottom of the third inning. Mm-hmm. But, um, it's, I mean, there's still a lot of game left. [00:33:00] And I just think that once they get back here, things will sharpen up. I- they're, so they're a great team.

They've got a lot of great players. Uh, th- it seems like, I guess if we're talking about a part where that really needs the most work, I guess it would be keeping a good, healthy, tight bull- bullpen, uh, as much as anything. Um- 

Mat Germain: Well, and I think there's something to be said for going through, , a losing spell, where it binds a team together.

Yeah. Like right now they're forced to kind of- grind through this little short phase where they've, the, the bats have gone silent. Like, they're just not producing for whatever reason, um, consistently. And w- I pointed this out a long time ago though, Mark, because you look at the bottom of the lineup and the way that it's built, that's going to happen.

Like, they, you're going to have spells where those bats, like, when you've got Taylor Walls, Cedric Mullins, and the rest of them all below a, a 700 OPS, that's just, that's [00:34:00] going to happen overall. Yeah. So, especially when you're bringing in a lot of youth. So they lost Jake Fraley. They lost a, a couple of other guys that

Or Ben Williamson especially. Mm-hmm. That was a huge loss where it brought that bottom of the lineup up a notch, right? So now that you've got younger guys, they're more inconsistent. So Oliver Dunn is one of the guys you mentioned. Right. Uh, Carson Williams is another one they brought back into the fold.

They're striking out a lot. They're having more issues getting the runs across the plate when they have the opportunity, , than they were getting at the beginning of the season. Now thankfully, none of those injuries are, are season long. They're, you know, they're going to be back, so this is just about riding this out and trying to earn as many wins as possible.

And they'll, they'll get out of it. They're, they're seeing the Angels next, Mark. That's a good time to get the bats going again. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, man. It, it's, every time I hear the Angels, alls I can think of is Mike Trout, Mike Trout, Mike [00:35:00] Trout, a career that was just burnt on a bad team. And, uh- 

Mat Germain: Can the Rays save him?

Can they bring him aboard? We'll trade Wander Franco to the Angels for Mike Trout. It's a fair deal, Mark. They get so much younger. Think about it. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, my.

Well, you know, the Angels- I'm calling. Yeah ... is it, is, is it Arte Moreno? Is that their owner? I can't remember. 

Mat Germain: Yes. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. I 

Mat Germain: mean- 

Mark Corbett: Arte Moreno ... I, the, I just think he wants to take that team. He's a guy who's just gonna take whatever pennies fall from the top teams that are coming in and, and just be happy with that.

So it, it is sad and, um, but, uh, it'll be interesting to see, 'cause I, it's, like, the Rays do get kind of a break. But I think coming home's gonna be good for them, and I think you said sometimes having a bit of a losing, not necessarily a streak per se, but a, a s- little small stint like this raises up everything inside of you to say, "Okay, what are we gonna do?

What are we gonna come back and gel together?" And with these [00:36:00] new guys on the team, it's, it's definitely gonna make a difference whether it ... And I'm curious too if there's a leadership role for Kimbrel, uh, amongst them. I mean, the thing is, yeah, there's, he, he, he's there, but I also think in some ways we already had that with Martinez as far as a veteran who can pull them together.

But I, I think nonetheless both of those can help build some energy, uh, inside pitching- You know- ... and perhaps across the team ... 

Mat Germain: you know what I was wondering the other day? And this is gonna, I don't know. Is Charlie Morton still throwing? Man, 

Mark Corbett: I hope 

Mat Germain: so. I would love to see them bring him in as a reliever.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And I know he could do it. If you tell him short season, right? Because he'd be only ramping up for, let's say, July onwards, and you sign him for that period of time. And you say, "You know what? We just want you to be a sixth or seventh inning guy, maybe two innings max, and potentially a closer. And that's all we need from you.[00:37:00] 

And then we'll give you a, uh, a bullpen coaching job after that." Jeez. "And you can stay with the organization long term." I, I think there, there's a move in there somewhere where, where the Rays, you know, will try to find another veteran. I don't think they're satisfied with just one. I think they, they know they're in it for the playoffs right now, and they need to find that consistency in the pen that they're really lacking.

Even though they had a lot of success for the beginning of the year and they've d- uh, like, blown the doors off the standings, their pen still has been a rollercoaster ride overall. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, ground Chuck, man, I'd love to see him back in there. He would ... I mean, w- I, I stay, still say w- some of the most enjoyable games for me w- with the Rays was when I got to see him and d'Arnaud working together in the battery and just being amazing there with the Rays.

I would love to see Chuck back there. It, it, it would be amazing to see Charlie bringing that together as well. Well, there's a lot of good things looking [00:38:00] here for the future, Matt. I'm gonna probably, um, myself here, I'm about ready to go get some more coffee and listen here in a minute, buddy.

Sorry for- 

Mat Germain: I, I hear you. No, I get it. All good, Mark. We're, uh, we're, we're actually getting hits now from Cedric Mullins, so we'll, we'll leave it off with that one. But, uh, the, the la- final thing I'd like to say is that the stadium issue is still lingering. I'm looking forward to seeing if they can actually resolve it overall and getting, get it all buttoned up.

Um, you know, there's, there's a lot of, uh, a lot of attention on the Rays overall. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So I, I think they're getting some notoriety that they didn't expect to be getting this year, uh, and that's nice to see. So along with the stadium, they get that. Um, they get the great minors things going on. They've got the second overall pick.

Rays fans should be in a really happy place overall. - By the, the time the All-Star game comes around, I think you're gonna see between now and then the Rays make a significant move. I still don't know if it's gonna be [00:39:00] a bat, I still don't know if it's gonna be an arm, but keep your eyes peeled on the San Francisco Giants and Robbie Ray.

Uh, keep your eyes peeled on any hitter that looks like he could really amp up the outfield performance, , and potentially, give the Rays that, that extra edge that they will be wanting to have as they go into the playoffs, so. 

Mark Corbett: Man. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. It's- I like that ... they're still, they're still just need a 500 record to get to 90 wins, Mark.

So we're in a good place. 

Mark Corbett: I think so too, my friend. I'm, it's, it's gonna be an exciting year. I think hopefully that excitement builds to with, uh, folks who wanna stand behind getting this new stadium built, both from the ownership and from the politicians and the people. So we'll see how that goes. And I, I, something I, I wanna probably look at in, uh, weeks to come, as we were traveling to Louisville back and forth this past weekend, it was interesting r- to ride by Nippon Stadium.

I can't remember where it wa- it was in Tennessee And they're building a new one right next to it. And I [00:40:00] wanna hear their story about what it took to make that happen, 'cause it also has, like, a business development area around it. So- Hmm ... I'm gonna reach out and see if I can find out, you know, what were the impediments they ran into, what were the compromises that were made.

And, you know, it's, it's still in construction at the moment, but it looked pretty good. I mean, they've got the glass up in there in, uh, in some of the windows and such, I should say. Uh, so anyway, but getting back to the Rays, thank you, sir, once again for giving us, showing us some light here at the end of the tunnel.

And I'd say it's pretty good. So we'll see how it goes, and we'll get together with y'all again real soon. Bong. Love the bong. Love the bong. Love the bong.