RaysUp BaseballBiz Awards Season, Rays 2027 rotation?

387 BaseballBiz RaysUp, Awards, World Series, Rays Rotation changes and players coming up through the farm system & Lou Piniella

Mark Corbett: [00:00:00] Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett, and with me, of course, is Mr. Mat Germain. How you doing, buddy? 

Mat Germain: I'm doing great. The award season is in, Mark, and, it doesn't just apply to Democrats. 

Mark Corbett: As I said, yeah, brother, Here in the swamp, it's been kind of nasty, but, I'm trying to get my shoes out. Man, it has been crazy around here in Florida.

But , the good news is we are still celebrating our American League champions and having gone to the World Series, having a great team. And there's... It always amazes me, because I'm thinking, "Okay, baseball's done. I have nothing to do now." And then I look and I say, "Oh, that's right. We got all these things coming up."

We've g- we got Golden Glove Awards. We've got, Hall of Fame announcements. We've got, I forget what else. [00:01:00] MVP's. All of this is still coming, and I'm excited about that part of it, my friend. So, have you been keeping up with it? 

Mat Germain: I have, yeah. There's a lot of, uh, you know, smaller transactions that you never really pick up on.

Like Victor Mesa Jr. is a good example of somebody that the Rays picked up along the way because of small transactions that were happening at the time. They were able to bring him aboard, and nobody really paid attention to it. Next thing you know, he's getting, called , the best arm that the Rays have had , in right fields in a very long time.

, So this is the time of year , when teams will target guys more aggressively , than you really think of sometimes. Because the Rays... , for example, the Rule 5 draft. They have, in the past, come to agreements with teams to pick somebody for them so that they can swap this, that, the other thing, and then end up with a certain player, right?

And then you're like, "Well, why'd they do that? It's just some guy. They're [00:02:00] gonna give him back later on," whatever. And then you look back at the end of the year and, and he's one of the dominant relievers that the team has. And you're like, "Well, they were onto something." So there's that kind of stuff going on.

So they're gonna protect players. They're gonna decide who is gonna fill their 40-man roster before to protect them from the Rule 5. They're gonna have the, um, the GM meetings, which is always interesting because especially this year. We spoke last week about some potential trades that might happen, some extensions that might happen.

This is the time of year. And Mark, I was listening to Eric Neander's, um, post-season hour long thing , and the amount of times , and that he was glowing about Junior Caminero as a work ethic, as a consistent worker , and like able to translate what he is told into action immediately.

He's, I think he said within 20 minutes, whereas some people it could be a whole off season for them to integrate what he's, [00:03:00] what they're being told. I think there's a good chance that, especially when you look at the Rays not having any obligations next year and beyond, that they lock that in, that they make Junior an offer that hopefully he'll take and, and make sure that he's around so that when they start selling box seats and everything else for that new stadium, they're able to put that name and say, "Hey, you're buying access to this.

This guy is going to be the franchise player that you are coming in to see on a daily basis." 

Mark Corbett: Well, I mean, you and I have talked about that for a long time, saying, "Why haven't they done that? Why haven't they done..." We need to keep him happy. we need to make sure that when the time for negotiations comes, he doesn't even have to worry about arbitration, 'cause we've done so well for him already, and I'm really hoping that's the case.

So I'm glad to hear Neander had all that to say. I, I heard part of an interview with him [00:04:00] yesterday. Okay. And he was on the radio, and the thing that I heard, a couple things. One, really happy about Drew. Yes. Really happy about having our ace and coming back, and we're getting him for 20 million, and we'll talk about that in a minute.

But he was also fairly open about how Peralta and Martinez are not scheduled to be part of that team next year. Mm. They're both going to be free agents, and who knows what th- what they'll do. But I think that doesn't preclude having conversations with them and coming to the team, but who knows? 

Mat Germain: Well, I think the Rays might be open to it on a very short term.

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: Like, like we spoke about three years for Freddy Peralta as, as an example. If he's getting five years somewhere else, why would he decide to, not take that? But the Rays are not in a position yet to commit that long a, an amount, to anybody, I don't think. But at the same... Nick Martinez, though, to [00:05:00] me, they've left the door open to more, because they know it'll be a shorter term.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: They know his impact on and off the field is, is, like, instrumental to what chemistry they were able to build this year. And, but the... he did say it'll have a lasting effect, which to me is sort of like that Charlie Morton thing, and that had to be hard, too. When Charlie Morton, was, like, not... they didn't pick up the option for Charlie.

They just basically let him walk. 

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: That was even tougher than what they're ha- having to do now with Nick, right, in terms of, um- 'Cause he's 

Mark Corbett: a free agent. It's not as- 

Mat Germain: Yeah ... a 

Mark Corbett: one-way option. Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So, so you're, you're looking at, um- the positive, I, I think what you're gonna see is somebody else like Nick that they target that is able to have that, a similar but different positive influence as a veteran, and they'll bring that person in to be the next type of similar on the same kind of [00:06:00] short term.

Because they have such a huge amount of young players in AA, AAA that are gonna need some playing time, and, and they need to balance the affordability of things for now. Because like you mentioned, they want Drew, so that's 20 million. I think it keeps them well above 100 million for next year. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: It's like 113, 115-ish.

And then like we just mentioned, if they extend Junior Caminero, you're adding on another 10, 12 million w- signing bonuses and whatever he's gonna get for, the next year. So there's things in there that are forcing their hands to say, "We've got to decide where we're spending." But like he said, the, the position player field for the Rays is allowing them the opportunity to keep Drew around for one more season.

The guy that I keep looking at that they might not want to spend on is Shane McClanahan, and, and he's set to make six plus million. To me, when you're talking about signing bonuses, for Junior Caminero, that's where I take the [00:07:00] money from is I just say, "Listen, Shane, like, we, we had a really, really good run," yada, yada, yada.

"Either we come to an agreement for lesser amount because you're such a high risk or, we're gonna have to walk away." Um, I think that's probably the harder decision to make 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. I w- I was having a conversation with my dad earlier today. He's 96 now, and, and baseball is not his game.

Coming from Kentucky, basketball is your game and maybe football. But, so he's asked me a few things about some of the, about the CBA. We won't say a lot right now about it, but, and asking about what some of these players make. Well, I start telling him what Ohtani or Tucker makes, et cetera, and, it blows his mind.

He said, "Well, is that the most?" And then, oh, let's see, oh, there's Cristiano Ro- Ronaldo or whatever, and the, you look in soccer. If you look at the top 10, you're gonna see probably three or four soccer guys, maybe a boxing guy, and one or t- LeBron James is, like, in the top five. I don't know. I forget what I'm springboarding off of [00:08:00] here, Mat.

But, um, anyway, it, it comes down to having a budget with the Rays. And, yes, I think w- when I hear Drew and 20 million, where is the, where is the other 80 million going to go to? And, I think one of the things I heard Neander say in that interview was when he was talking is that, um, he was admiring what the Brewers have done.

Mm. And it sounded like he thought maybe we were a year behind the Brewers in what they've done with their farm system, really bringing up some good talent. And I don't have the list in front of me, but there are several of those players that have come up. I think maybe Cooper Pratt may have even been one of the ones that they brought up.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And you look at that young talent, and you and I have talked in the past about some of these guys. You sent me, or you, I can't remember if you posted it or you just sent me something on it, and you were talking about, well, we'll, we can talk a moment about Taylor Walls getting a Golden Glove.

Yeah. But you look down at our [00:09:00] Single A system, and w- we can talk about that fella, too. 

Mat Germain: He's in Triple A now. Like, h- he ended the year in Triple A. So, the, the ... When you look at the history, like, I've been doing this a long time for the Rays, looking at their, their prospect system. I can count on two fingers the number of guys that played four levels , in the Rays system as a position player.

Like, it doesn't happen. It just does not happen. For it to happen at the catching position, which is the hardest one- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: to get moved up at, and to do that three times in one season because your bat and your approach behind the plate are so mature that the Rays, of all organizations, are ecstatic to move you up.

When I see rankings of prospects in, in, right, this off-season, right, and I don't see Caden Bodine in the top 12, I think that's ridiculous. Like, he- [00:10:00] to me, he is a very, very, very, very elite, franchise-altering prospect. If you asked me today if I wanted to keep Grady Emerson or Caden Bodine, I would have to think about it.

Yeah. , It's a very serious decision because I know Caden Bodine will hit MLB pitching and rock it. I don't know that about Grady Emerson yet So, it's, it's one of those where, where he's been tested to the highest levels of the minors. He's knocking on the door and you're giving him a Gold Glove on top of it?

It's just, Mark, it, it makes me giddy knowing that if you take this, this year's Rays club and you take out Nick Fortes and you put in Caden Bodine, in terms of bat and behind the plate, you've just moved the Rays into 100 plus wins. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And, and so you're looking at the playoffs. Can he hit, get those major hits to actually knock in a few more runs?

To [00:11:00] get, you know, Liam Hicks out of the game a few times to give him a breather. There's a lot involved in that behind the plate and the work with the pitchers that he's gonna be doing is also going to help through the season. Um, so I, I just think the, the Rays and then the other guys that he mentioned were Ty Johnson and, Brody Hopkins.

And, and Erik Neander was very, very, I think he mentioned them in the interview I saw for the hour long five times. He brought them up on his own. Like, first time they were brought up, yeah, yeah, but he kept mentioning them and, and they did ask him, are they gonna be starters? Are they gonna be relievers?

He said, "We're still not committed to one or the other." They're gonna try to develop them as best they can, and they'll have their ideas. He's meeting with the pitching, side of things for the Rays today. , But I see a lot of, Misiorowski in, in Brody Hopkins. I see a lot of, um, potential for Ty Johnson as well as the starter if, because the more innings they get, we've seen it , with guys that they've actually converted [00:12:00] from relieving, like Griffin Jax, into a starting role.

So nothing says that they can't do the same thing with them. And, and so when you're looking at the Rays, like I know a lot of people are down about, Freddy Peralta and Nick Martinez potentially leaving, but there's a lot of talent still sticking around 

Mark Corbett: And that's the thing. I mean, we get emotionally tied up with these.

I mean, let, let me ask you something. As a fan, you go ahead, you got your gear. I know you got all the Grit & Glow stuff. I haven't done that yet. But you, you bought that jersey, man. You bought that jersey. On the back it says Martinez or it says Peralta, and you've only got to wear it for one season, Mat.

Mat Germain: Oh, Mark, I ro- I wear jerseys from, like, way back. I have a Mats Naslund Montreal Canadians jersey. Mm. I will rock that thing if I, if I can, right? It's one of those things where it actually shows... I remember in the Tom Brady years of the Patriots, I was wearing a Drew Bledsoe jersey the whole [00:13:00] time. Because it showed I was a fan before they started winning all those championships.

Right? It sort of, it gives you some cred as a fan. So I, I actually appreciate that, and I think it's good to cheer those guys on like we do all the time on this show. I know. And, and cheer on the X-Rays. And Jake Bauers, who's about to get paid, and, and did you see the quote from his manager? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, I wanna talk about that for a bit, 'cause we- we'll, we'll s- I'd like to tell the whole story when we get to that one.

Yeah. But yeah. That it, it is something. I mean, I know when I worked at the Trop, right, and just went to the games, and you see those jerseys and you see Crawford on the back. Mm-hmm. You see Shields, you see Longoria. you see those. You see Price. Yeah. You see those names, and it's like, "Oh, wow." The best thing about those is, one, they loved the game before.

Yeah. Two, they just raise the memory for me of, of a part of the game by, by... as they walk by me and seeing that. So it, it is cool. I, I'm teasing about that. Yeah. I love them. The... [00:14:00] No. I, I would wear a Peralta or a Martinez shirt anytime, man, but it's, it's- 

Mat Germain: Now- ... what if it was a bad experience, right? 

Mark Corbett: Oh. 

Mat Germain: So would you wear a Nelson Cruz jersey of the Rays?

Mark Corbett: Hmm. 

Mat Germain: You know? That's a little different. Hmm. Ah. It's harder to pull off. Yeah. You'll get questions. You'll get eyebrows. Like, "Why are you wearing something for something that fell through and didn't go very well?" 

Mark Corbett: Well, the number five one I have here, which is, 

Mat Germain: It is ... 

Mark Corbett: it's just, it starts with the F word, 

And the, it's- Oh, I think I burned that on a funeral pyre a while back. But oh, jeez. No. Yeah. I, I mean, it's, it's good to love the game and you, you see all that. , They actually had a pop-up merchandise, it's like a food truck, in the middle of the city here in Tampa, 'cause they didn't really have a regular store.

You could buy stuff at Dick's and you go- Yep ... all the way over to St. Pete and there's a store in there. But they had this little pop-up store [00:15:00] I don't think anybody knew about. And I went in- 

Mat Germain: Isn't that par for the course? Isn't that par for the course, though? Like, you don't have anybody covering the Rays at The Athletic that's dedicated to the Rays, right?

Yeah. You don't have anybody for MLB.com that's covering the Rays online, like on the, the outlets, because the one guy they do have doesn't go on those outlets. He's not a social media a- he's not on there at all. So like, the Rays' lack of coverage overall, and then so it was nice to see. That's why I think when we were talking in, during the World Series, it was nice to see even before, the lead up to it, everybody was recognizing the fact that the Rays belonged and like they had earned it and like they were getting that coverage and it was positive and it was...

That's why I think it shocked all of us, like, "Oh, well, everybody's sort of not aggressively putting the Rays down. What is going on?" So I hope you guys get a beautiful store when that new stadium gets built. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, I don't wanna go to [00:16:00] Dick's or, go to Target and then see a Tampa Bay Rays shirt.

Looks like it was, oh, I don't know, made some place where they pay $5 for all the materials or something like that. Yeah, yeah, and half the quarter for the work. But it has been an exciting time. This is, like I say, the post World Series. And a little bit, got a little bit of the blues of that, but we've had such a great team and are still looking back at those moments that are, that are so great.

But you mentioned something a moment ago I wanna talk about, and that is Jakey Bauers. And it was fun during the World Series. I mean, I hated that particular moment, but what, when he catches the ball the, for the last out of game five and he walks over and he hands the ball to Murf- Murphy and I mean, they're, everybody's so excited.

Let's see if I got it here. Murphy, I get, think gets Bauers, he gives him a big, a, a bear hug. He says, "You're going to be rich. Just remember when you're with that horseshit Yankees team, you guys are [00:17:00] all playing for yourselves. Just remember, this is the way we used to do it." So ... And and the thing of it was, it was a hot moment.

There he is real excited about, you just won the freaking World Series and you're excited. You got this young man handing you the game ball who you've really come to love and watch as he's grown, Jake Bauers. And of course somebody captures that moment, it becomes viral. And Pat Murphy, to his credit, gets on the horn once he realizes all this and calls Brian Cashman of the Yankees and apologizes.

But I don't think he should've. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. you gotta own that to me. I, I mean, yeah, you, you can say that you didn't really want it to be out of context, but I think everybody knows when, when, when you sign on to a small, franchise- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: you're going to be the David against the Goliaths, and you're gonna have to own that and be like, "Yeah, I, I went there [00:18:00] because I didn't want to go to those bit larger franchises," and that's the way you have to behave and speak and act, right?

And then you can respect them, but just say basically, "This is where I stand on the issues." And like Jake, Jake, I think, it's an interesting thing on where he's gonna land. I don't know. I, I, I honestly don't. I don't know what's in his mind and his heart and, there'll, there'll be a lot of emotions tied to Milwaukee.

It's hard to walk away from the season that he had there. And then we've seen it before where guys start chasing the money after a win- Yeah ... like this, and, and they, they just don't feel the same comfort and passion and everything else, and everything starts to get a little bit knocked down. Can you think of a player that won the World Series, signed a big deal, and then did better?

Mark Corbett: No. No. No. I, I, pardon me, I cannot at the moment, so, um, but no, the- there's a [00:19:00] love in that game and, and you talk about things like Bauers, I know there's an emotional commitment there, but an athlete also knows they only have so much time to make the money, and it's hard to, to take that. I mean, in a sense, I had to ask the question, what about Peralta?

Because Peralta came here and his whole game changed when he was working with Kyle Snyder. He, I think he's truly is in love with the team, with Kyle and this area, but he's gonna be making a decision. I mean, Mark- Right. 

Mat Germain: I get that. And, and part of me is also thinking, okay, you have Jake Bauers. Let's say he goes to the Mets, right?

Mm-hmm. Who is Jake Bauers in the, in the whole sphere of athletes in New York? Where would you rank him if he goes there? maybe in the top 30. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, but- Maybe. 

Mat Germain: You've got the Giants, the Jets, this, that, and the other thing. You've got, you've got the Yankees, you've got Soto, you've got Lindor, you've got Bichette, you...

So he's not even, like, [00:20:00] in the, in the forefront of the mentality of people there. So, and, and so what kind of endorsements is he gonna sign there? And so you could look at Milwaukee and say, yeah, he might get less money from the team, but he has a much better opportunity for endorsements, and he can actually raise his kids in an area that's maybe more family-friendly and whatever else, 

Like, I don't know how he enjoys the, the whole area of Milwaukee. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: But, you know, if he really loves it there, I say go for it. Stay there. Be happy. Um, that's... But to me, there, there's more to it than the money part, because we know, like, if, if you're making $14 million in a year, the government gets half anyway.

And then that, that, that money, to try to spend $7 million, you gotta try. Like, you gotta go do a really good job of try- so you do that for, let's say Jake Bauers is looking at a three to four year deal, maybe five he can get. Like, you do that for that long, like once you're over $20 million, [00:21:00] do you really notice a difference if you're in New York or Wisconsin?

I mean, maybe the size of your lawn is, is gonna be the difference, but, I, I don't know. It's one of those, as a Canadian maybe, somebody that's grown up in a lot of smaller towns and I have acreage, like I, I appreciate that, that aspect of things, and I never understood the lure of New York. I, I'd love to visit it, but I would never spend more than a month in, in that city ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.

I couldn't. It would drive me insane, Mark. It really would. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, I, I haven't felt compelled. I mean, heck, I used to work at The New York Times and I never went there. Mm-hmm. 

Mat Germain: That's funny. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, tell me about it. Oh, gosh. No, not, I don't know. He, he would not obviously be top tier and certainly not be sought out for a lot of marketing with ev- all the other personalities that are there.

As an athlete, he would definitely bring something to either one of those teams, whe- whether it [00:22:00] be Mets or Yankees. But, no. Now I, I hope that they can find a way for him to stay there if he wants to, and we'll see. 

Mat Germain: I don't remember when Christian Yelich's deal ends, but to me that's when the gap would open up for him to actually get paid, in, in their terms of money.

They've made some money, but I know they'll wanna pocket some based on, ownership doing what the ownership does after a huge win, so. But altogether though, Mark, like the, the rest of the core of that team is really solid- Yeah ... and there for the long term. They don't have very much to worry about, similarly to the Rays.

So when we talk about like repeat, World Series appearances, if you told me next year the Brewers and Rays were both in the ALCS and NLCS, it wouldn't surprise me in the least. 

Mark Corbett: No, you bring up Yelich and, and I, I think of, a moment I enjoyed post-game when he's coming up there to talk with all the little Fox [00:23:00] personalities, A-Rod, et cetera.

And he's sitting up there by none other than Derek Jeter. Mm-hmm. Derek Jeter is the guy who traded him, I think, to, to the Brewers. And I, I think there was no ill will there. If anything else, there was probably gratitude that Yelich was able- Yeah ... to go to the Brewers. 

Mat Germain: I think from what I gathered once Jeter left, Jeter was irate about having to trade away all those players.

Yeah. And having to do that whole scenario, um, which, which was a sham and, and it was a shame. And I think you look at, at the, the pitching that the Marlins have trawled out there for- Yeah ... the last bit, how great would it have been for them to have the catcher that they sent to Philly and the guy that they sent to the Brewers?

I mean, they, they would be a completely different franchise at this point and probably would've won a couple of division titles, so 

Mark Corbett: I don't know. We'll 

Mat Germain: have to get 

Mark Corbett: Lou back on here and talk about that. 

Mat Germain: [00:24:00] Yeah. Poor Lou. But, y- they're doing good work now anyway. They're, they're on the up and up, I think, overall in Miami, so yeah.

Mark Corbett: You, you know, when I think about, the changes from, the Marlins and our poor buddy Lou, I keep thinking about Kim Ng and Jeter, and it was never a match made in heaven for them with the Marlins. I think they, they got along probably. But they both wound up suffering from the same thing, that a lot was probably promised, and they were handcuffed to a degree to be able to get the things done that they needed to get done.

And it's like, what? You, you, you gave me the keys to the car, but you won't let me drive, Dad. Come on. Let me do something here." I mean, that's the feeling I, I had from that today. Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Kim Ng is, the commissioner of that softball league now, right? 

Mark Corbett: Yes, she is. She disappeared for about a year to c- oh, we need her [00:25:00] somewhere. She's too daggone important.

Oh, I thought, well, maybe Cashman will retire, and she'll go back there. Oh, or we could have her as commissioner. I wanted to see her do something. So now she is commissioner, just not of the league that I thought she was s- but with the women's softball league. 

Mat Germain: But, but my thought goes to this, okay? D- let's say the CBA talks go badly this year, this time around, and there's a long delay of the season, and fans will get angry, and Rob Manfred ends up being the person that, gets cut out at some point.

How interesting would it be if Kim Ng was one of the people presented as a potential net replacement for Rob Manfred as commissioner? 

Mark Corbett: Oh, I love it. I absolutely love it. I mean, it, I, I think that it would be a great thing. Sh- she's the one... She worked kind of a Cashman side coming up. She'd worked with MLB before she worked with Cashman in the Yankees organization, and she was the one who negotiated the Gerrit Cole contract.

So I got respect from [00:26:00] her, for her across all of that and, things that she achieved with them. So yeah, I think she would be a perfect fit. So if, if, But- I know, I, I know Rob wants to get that expansion done under, beneath his name, though, first. He wants to make sure he has that done. And tell me I'm wrong, but I, what I've been hearing the rumblings is that MLB is putting out there, "Hey, we'll do all this.

We'll do sharing revenue with you guys too, but guess what? Guess what we're not gonna give up," Yeah, okay, we, we know. The one thing that's the cap thing is the block, and you mentioned before that there, how many other sports, professional sports actually do have a cap? Most of them. 

Mat Germain: Well, there already is a cap, right?

The owners just don't go out there and bluntly say it. Like, if you look at the Rays right now, which we just spoke about it, we know, we don't have to be told, but we know the Rays will not spend over 120 million next year. We would be [00:27:00] flabbergasted if they did. So they are operating with a cap. For players to believe otherwise is ridiculous.

And the same thing with the Yankees. We know they have a cap, a, a number they will not exceed. Even the Dodgers have a number they will not exceed. It's just not put into a rule where there, if you get an owner, like let's say Elon Musk did buy a ba- a baseball team. And he wants to go in there and spend a trillion dollars on it, he would be allowed.

So it's a theoretical state of mind. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: which is ridiculous on both sides. So we're all gonna forego millions of dollars on both sides just because both of us wanna be... It's a complete greed game that is disgusting when you are sitting there paying $10 for a hot dog, right? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. So 

Mat Germain: it, it's, um, yeah, I, I don't like the [00:28:00] whole thing.

I, I think that mature, people, and, and I've seen a lot of... I've written a lot of papers about unions in general, right? And, and a mature union that can actually communicate things both to its own people and to the league is an effective one and, and is the best, the kind of union you want. What we have in baseball compared to all the other ones is, and we had it in the NHL for a while when Bob Goodenow was there and a whole bunch of other people.

There was a lot of really bad, seeds in there. But they got through it, they put somebody else in. That's the problem with the MLBPA. They have not changed the guard enough- Yeah ... to communicate to them the errors that they are making. 

Mark Corbett: And so- So they need their own little blue wave to go through the MLBPA.

They 

Mat Germain: do. They do. And they need to s- to clear, clearly put it on the table and say, "Listen, w- we don't care what you call it. you can, if you don't [00:29:00] want it to be a salary cap, call it a, limiting factor. I don't know. Whatever you wanna use, it's going to make you more money as a group of players.

So why would you not be for it? You're gonna get more money, you're gonna play fewer games, you're getting more money per game, you're gonna get more time off with your family, et cetera. You're gonna get more playoff money because now the playoffs are gonna be expanded. You're gonna get a bigger chunk of the revenues.

Why would you be angry?" It- Like, it's been proven financially over and over again that the players will get more money by having the floor and cap system. 

Mark Corbett: Yep, yep. Yeah, but I mean- And I don't like- ... 'cause I, I've always ar- argued that there should be no need for a cap because self-discipline of the team.

 why would you spend X? y- you, the whole idea of the, you don't call it the penalty tax or the luxury tax. What do you call it? The, what is the word they like to use? I mean, it's a l- it's a luxury tax, 'cause they have to pay [00:30:00] X if they hit number of dollars on their payroll. So there's been a punitive things for those teams, but they still would go ahead, and the amount of tax they have to pay for the penalty is more than some of the teams have for their entire budget.

I would say if you... It's, it won't hurt to have a, um, cap- For ceiling if you also have one for a floor 

Mat Germain: I also, I, I look at it completely differently though, Mark. I, I think there, there's an obscenity to a player getting paid a certain amount. Like Vlad Jr. is a good example. Juan Soto is a good example. They are way overpaid for what- Right

they provide for their teams. And, and when I'm a player on that team and I look at that player and I see the output and I see the difference in money that they're making, it changes all of the dynamics. It changes the dynamics in the player himself. So in Vlad Jr., it changes it to his teammates in comparison to him.

They're seeing all... Remember Barry Bonds [00:31:00] and he used to have that, that La-Z-Boy chair or whatever in the dugout, and, and it was like his throne or whatever you wanted to call it, right? Like, there's just a certain vibe that people get, and you don't see it in hockey. You don't see it as much in basketball.

Like, there, there, the, because there's a realm that you're stuck within, and people know, well, you can't make more than this, you can't make less than that. Like in, in the NBA it's automatic, oh, that guy's getting max money. Well, you're getting max money? That's fine. I'm getting max money. There's a couple of guys that do.

They only have a certain amount they can give out, and that's fine, but they're still getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to play- Yeah ... a basketball game. Like, so the, the mo- well, I'm just gonna go through it right here, okay, Mark? Michael Jordan signed a $1.3 billion deal with Nike, okay? That was his endorsement deal.

Never mind the money he was making from the Bulls. He signed a $1.3 billion, it's still the [00:32:00] richest contract ever signed. LeBron James signed a $1 billion deal for endorsements with Nike. Same thing, Cristiano, Cristiano Ronaldo signed a $1 billion deal with Nike. Three of them. Oh, and Lionel Messi signed for over a billion dollars with Adidas.

What do they all have in common? None of them are baseball players. Except Michael Jordan for a very short period of time, right? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, yeah. Blink, blink. Yeah. 

Mat Germain: My point is, so how are they doing? How are they doing? Like, how are they... Because they're not getting marketed right. They're not getting this, they're not getting that.

They need both sides to really refocus and say, "Why aren't we making money like they are in, in the NBA?" Like, the NBA is a much smaller enterprise than Major League Baseball. 

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. 

Mat Germain: So why aren't the biggest stars , in baseball getting those kinds of deals? [00:33:00] 

Mark Corbett: Sounds like some work needs to be done, my friend 

Mat Germain: So the CBA, if I'm a player, should be focused on marketing the freaking game.

That should be- Yeah ... the, the center of my world because I want that billion-dollar marketing deal. I couldn't care less about making whatever from my team. I want the marketing d- deal. I want the endorsements. Where are my endorsements? If I'm Mike Trout, I'm livid about my career because my endorsements were probably a quarter of what they should have been if my league actually cared about my stature- Yeah

and in itself, right? And that's where they missed the boat on the CBA. They're all looking at the cap. They're all looking at the tiny little details of this, that. They're not looking at the world, Mark. They're not. 

Mark Corbett: Well, let's rebuild baseball, Mat. That's what... I mean, I'm joking, but it's, it, it... I think it almost takes some of that because if you [00:34:00] want to be effective- 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm

Mark Corbett: do we need something besides an ancient system that's been used for decades upon decades upon decades? You look at younger sports, and basketball is certainly a younger sport to baseball, and what they've done to make it work. And basketball was built, I mean, in a, an electronic society. I mean, radio to TV, et cetera.

But I mean, the thing of it was there's, there's more that... And my gosh, the popularity of soccer, football, whatever you wanna call it, there's, there rises to it. So it really comes down to if you took all that extra money that you're paying into top-level payers and penalties, and you put that into promotion of the sport, whether it be in the community or otherwise, then yes.

So I can see where that could be a way for a path to build a better baseball that's more incorporated, has more life to it, and gives players an opportunity to make more off-field, than [00:35:00] they do, than they do on-field. 

Mat Germain: Right. And they have to do more of those special events and promote the WBC more and be more active.

Like, the, the, the positive thing we saw was with, like, MLB TV with the Australian Baseball League, growing the sport over there, giving them a hand. That's all positive. And I, I, I'm just saying, like, I'm sick of the rhetoric that first of all, MLB is doing a bad job. They're not doing a bad job of tweaking the sport for the better.

The time thing, there's a lot of, of little minor things they've done to improve things. They're looking at the days of the week, the travel thing, trying to mitigate the number of games and adding playoff stuff, which is all good, positive stuff, right? They're checking the, the hands of the pitchers to make sure they're not using substances.

 they're, they've tried their best, and they're starting to use the ABS system, which again, very positive. Great stuff. But keep, keep looking outside of the game and outside of the [00:36:00] stadiums and how the people view you as a league. If you sit there and you petulantly sit off for all of spring training and the first month or two of the season, even more sometimes, then you're, you're just telling the world that you are not a mature enough business entity- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah

Mat Germain: to be trusted. So every single business investor that's looking to promote their products within MLB to build this, to build that, to have events, they're all gonna walk away from you and go elsewhere. They'll go to soccer, they'll go this. Like, they're not... If I'm a, an executive, how do I sell my brand, within baseball?

I'm not gonna. I'm gonna tie myself to a sport that's mature. 

Mark Corbett: So what do you think, s- we'll just pick an instance. Say Taylor Walls, he just won the Golden Glove Award as shortstop What can happen with that? If you were his agent/manager, what would you think would be a good path [00:37:00] for Taylor to, to be able to, to build on top of that?

To, to find a way to build awareness and maybe get him more opportunities to make money, off, off the field, off the- 

Mat Germain: Well, so a lot of that comes down to MLB. Again, it's that marketing thing where if, if I have star players, I need to promote them and get, make them be seen. So how many people in the world know who the best three sh- shoo- three point shooter in the NBA is, and why is that?

The league promotes him constantly. 

Mark Corbett: Yep. 

Mat Germain: He's always on commercials and out there and, and promoting this, promoting that. They, they'll probably name an award after him afterwards. So for example, the Rawlings things, why isn't it on TV? Why isn't it, shown as a major event along with other things?

Make it, make it known, show the highlights, have the things, make it, um, a part of the All-Star game. Make it, like, challenges that show off the Golden, the Gold Glove [00:38:00] skills that you're looking for or that get people those things. Like, so there's gotta be an, an amped up version.

Like the NBA has their three-point shooting competition. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Right? 

Mat Germain: Well, why couldn't you have something like that for defensive players in the, in, in baseball, right? Where you're, you're expected to make certain things happen. I don't know what it would be exactly. You could design it in a certain way that shows off their skills and their ability to throw fro- from across their body into a certain area around first base, right?

And do it in a certain time or whatever. Like, you can have certain things. Stop just looking at the home runs and, and selling only that. They promote every single aspect of the game. We talked about the Rays focusing on pitching, p- fielding, and, their hitters, et cetera. Like, those three aspects should be highlighted within the All-Star game because they are the game.

But instead we're just looking at home runs, home runs, home runs. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And then the pitchers go out there and lob stuff up and [00:39:00] everybody scores runs, everybody goes home. Like, promote the game and the skills and, and, how hard it is to hit 100 mile an hour pitch or above, right? Um, I don't know. I digress, but I'm just saying that there's a way for them to be more productive than this whole CBA talk, which is just gonna be so bogged down on that cap issue that I'm hoping the players and the league realize you could do away with it.

They could sign a 10-year deal right now with no salary cap, and it'd be fine. And they can conversely sign it with a 10-year salary cap, and it would be fine. They're all gonna make money. Yeah. There's nobody losing if they sign a deal. As soon as they don't sign a deal, they both lose. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yeah.

They're, um, hmm, it's not a fans first, approach. And, yeah, it, it definitely needs to be. But, one of the things, we need to talk about Drew again. I know you had some things on [00:40:00] that. But I'd, I would definitely like to address too, is the Veterans Committee- Yes ... and some of the, the people that are up for that.

 do you wanna kinda hit some of those points? 

Mat Germain: Yeah. The, it's the, contemporary baseball era community candidates that were announced, and, and I know you've talked about it a lot. Yeah. Like, how angry it makes you that, um, certain people aren't included. Now, I'm just gonna throw it out there that there's one that's almost an automatic this year, because Bruce Bochy is on there.

I can't see him not being, pushed through because of the history, um, in terms of the three World Series within a five-year period with the Giants. I mean, that just locks it in. And then to go back in and win another one with the Texas Rangers, I mean, it, it would be a pretty insane time if he didn't actually get put in, right?

So I say this with, with some, um, some, tentativeness, but to [00:41:00] me, we've seen Lou Piniella go in there quite often, and, and not get the call. And, and now Joe Maddon is on there as well. 

Mark Corbett: Dusty ... 

Mat Germain: all three of those people. 

Mark Corbett: Dusty. 

Mat Germain: Dusty Baker as well, yes. So you've got like, if there's a time to make exceptions It almost feels like one of those times.

Mark Corbett: I mean, you're looking at men who were in a critical era of baseball, and they each achieved so much. If, and, and not to take anything away from Jim Leyland, but you, you compare their records against his, and you're gonna find at least, at least as great as what he did. Yeah. And to me, if you don't give it to Lou guys this year, I don't know.

I won't say I'll come up here and on your lawn at Cooperstown, but, I might have somebody else's dog do it. I've ... I'm just so ticked off about their ignorance when it comes to, to somebody like Lou, and I know, you hear rumblings, "Well, he used to [00:42:00] be angry," and 

Mat Germain: it's that's...

Mark Corbett: Well, what? He was passionate. Mm-hmm. And if that is the only thing that's holding you back, y'all back, then you got issues. Those, all, all four of those managers should be in there as far as I'm concerned. Yeah. And if you look at Dusty, you look at Bruce, and you look at Lou, do them now. - Maddon deserves it as well,

i, I, I think that all four of them should be in there personally. 

Mat Germain: We're talking about the revamping of the CBA. There needs to be a revamp of how people get into the Hall of Fame- Yeah ... as well. I think, there, there's a time to kinda look at things and say, "Are we doing this for the best ways that we can actually think of?"

And, um, if you had, like, a better managerial assessment, 

Mark Corbett: um- What, well, tell me about something else here. I mean, all right, I had... We had Bob Kendrick on the show earlier this week. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: And he told me about the time that Buck O'Neil, and they were waiting for him to be announced. And he was, he was not inducted, he was not announced to be in the Hall of Fame.

And you cannot find anybody more, [00:43:00] who's more pivotal in the game when it came to bringing everything about the Negro Leagues to the awareness in corporate Major League Baseball, and they did not put that man into the Hall of Fame. I, again, Cooperstown, I have very little respect for the whole operation when it comes to putting plaques in there.

Mat Germain: Well, Mark, like Pete Rose wasn't even in there. Like, I don't care about the gambling, I really don't. Yeah. I mean, people have done worse. People have injected themselves with fluids and still ended up in there, right? Yes, 

Mark Corbett: they have. 

Mat Germain: So, so I, I think it's a museum. You should cherish it as a museum. This whole popularity contest of getting in, to me, is actually getting really, really, really old.

Yeah. I get the process and why they have it in place. But again, I think it needs to be altered to the point where, first of all, the people that have those rules take it seriously and don't take it as a way to promote themselves or their own opinions instead of looking at the game as a 

Mark Corbett: [00:44:00] whole. Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Um, the, the people that are chosen to do this should be better selected and not as freewheeling as what they have in place right now.

Yeah. I think that's a good place to start. And I also think the players should be involved. The players that played the game should get a say. Absolutely. And, and, and not for their own era, but for others. So, like, let's say you played, between 2000 and 2010, , you don't get to do it for that era.

You get to vote on others, though. And it would be a certain percentage of the players that get them. It wouldn't be always be the same ones, yada, yada, yada. But I think that would also give it an, a more even outlook. they could throw out, maybe, I don't know, just 150 players' votes, and 150 players every year get to vote in and, and whoever it is that they want and fill their ballots how they want.

Um, I think the players would get a really good kick out of that. Oh, yeah. It wouldn't have to be public. But then conversely, should [00:45:00] all of them be public? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, I, why not? Why not own up to what you, how you feel about it- Yes ... personally. Yeah. But, it would be something seeing two- I hate the 

Mat Germain: anonymous ballots.

I hate them. 

Mark Corbett: I do. Joe, Joe, Joe Maddon's got a, a restaurant here in Tampa, Ava's, which is a really, it's, it's a nice place. They're going to... I'm just mention this quickly because I know there's, something come, called up, called Thanksmas with gifts. Okay. They have things. They, they have a, a special dinner there December 3rd, and I'll put something up on the site about that.

And Rick Vaughn, who's been a guest on the show and who's been both involved with both the Orioles and the Rays organization, he works with, Homeless, Homeless Empowerment Program, HEP. And this is helping people who are... whether it be helping them find jobs. If they have some things in their lives that are difficult, they help them kinda do that, even, short-term housing for mon- months or such.

Anyway, pardon me, [00:46:00] it is November. When do you guys have Thanksgiving? Have you already had Thanksgiving? Well, we're li- Yes. Okay, that's right. Well, we're gonna have it here. And, this thing with Joe, I think, is December 3rd. We'll dig into that. But I keep going back to thinking, I've s- I've had the pleasure of meeting him, and he's been down to Tampa Baseball Museum a few times.

Um, I keep thinking of him, and I keep thinking of Lou as two managers with the Rays. And I know one of the big things with, with Lou was that he came in here thinking he was gonna be able to have some support as far as bringing in money for a team. And then the story goes, who knows what the thing is, but the mythology is that there was an organization of shareholders that came in that I guess was Stu, and that they were not going to spend any more money.

Yeah. And there was just a hard no. Cease, Pete. [00:47:00] that you got Maddon coming in later, and he does his magic, and, and he leaves and goes wins the World Series with the Cubs. But both of those gentlemen had such a, a l- a long career of success. I think Maddon, I think with Pinella, is it, like, over 1,800 games or wins that he had as a manager?

But I'm... Forgive me, I don't have, Lou in front of me. But it's both of those gentlemen have definitely earned the right to be in the Hall of Fame, and certainly the same for Bochy and for, for Dusty as well. So I, I've never gone to Cooperstown and I don't feel the need to at this point. If, if they were to be inducted, I might actually, I'd actually go.

I might actually go. 

Mat Germain: Oh, should there be like hard rules that you get in if you meet this criteria? For example, if you're a manager and you've won two World Series, you're in. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: It should be automatic. There should be [00:48:00] boundaries, like 500 home runs, you're in. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Um, the certain criteria, and this could be done by, by Cooperstown itself tomorrow and nobody would bat an eye and say anything. 200 wins is another one. whatever criteria it is that they wanna go by, if you achieve these, you don't even have to go on the ballot. We're putting you in five years after you retire.

Make it like a standard or whatever. There you 

Mark Corbett: go. There you go. 

Mat Germain: And then you're done, then you don't have to waste everybody's time with, and take up votes from others that could use it, right? That could be a really good place to start. Um, they could even do combinations of like if you have this number of home runs plus stolen bases and you exceed this, it ends up being whatever hits and whatever.

 like, I think they can get smarter with it, and then it'll give players something to drive for- Yeah ... which is always a good thing, right? [00:49:00] And, um, and then we still have the votes on the side for everybody else because there's a lot of mitigating factors with... Like Don Mattingly's a good example, and a whole bunch of others that have shorter careers and, and things that happen.

Andrew Jones, right? Where there's a slide at the end. So yeah, I, I think that's one way that they could work with it because even during the steroid, thing to actually stay silent through that, that whole thing, I think that showed a real lack of character- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: leadership, and it was probably worse than what Pete Rose did with the gambling In my opinion.

Mark Corbett: Yeah, yeah. I'm, I'm kinda with you on that one, Mat. It's just... I, I wouldn't call it duplicity, I'd call it ignorance, as much as anything. And, um, I hope... I like your method of actually having criteria, having bench points or b- bench marks that they'd achieve. Somebody reaches this, this, and this, then yes, they're going to be in the hall of fame.

Mm-hmm. And [00:50:00] I don't know. We'll see. 

Mat Germain: Because if not, it's a complete sham. That's the co- that's the point. 'Cause if I'm able to hit 500 home runs and you don't put me in the hall of fame, it's because you are an asshole, not because I didn't do my job. Right? That's, that's essentially the way that I see it, is it just...

I, I don't mean to be crass and I didn't mean to point at you personally. 

Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh. You don't need to be crass. what I said earlier, with what i said, we're nothing. It's okay. Crass has already been passed. 

Mat Germain: The popularity contest thing. I mean, what are we, in high school? Well, some of us maybe. Oh gosh. 

Mark Corbett: No.

I'm going into senility. Does that mean high school actually? I don't know. Oh. Oh, backing it up. Backing it up. Hey, there was another thing we were talking about before we got the show started, and we were looking at recognizing talent, and you and I were talking about Neander being recognized- Mm-hmm

and saying, "Yes, the Rays are gonna have me next year." he's a great talent and for [00:51:00] $20 million, why wouldn't you? 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: Then you, you looked a little deeper. What, what did you see from there? 

Mat Germain: Right. So things, there's always a lot of posturing, right, in the off-seasons and the Rays have done this before.

And he spoke about how Tyler Glasnow was a good example of somebody that they felt, um, because of other factors like Wander Franco, there's a whole bunch of things that happened, um, that they ended up shifting gears basically, because they knew they weren't gonna be willing to commit the money they needed to for Tyler and they didn't feel they could get to where they wanted to with everybody else, so they started offloading talent to the point where they didn't make the playoffs for two years, right?

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: But this year with Drew, what they're saying, and what I noted before, is that they have a clear slate after this year. So they literally can keep him and still make that qualifying offer for next year, which would be somewhere around the $24 million mark. Um, so that if he does [00:52:00] decide to go elsewhere at that point, , they're able to get, something, which would be probably a draft pick or whatever compensation package you come out with in the new CBA.

The problem with that is that the, the, the injury, history between Tyler Glasnow and, Drew Rasmussen are two different beasts compared to where they were. The Rays just saw Drew go through an entire season and in the last game he pitched they didn't push him very hard because they knew he is very susceptible to breaking.

So there's a, there's a part of me as a Rays fan and somebody that's written a lot about them that says they will trade him. This is posturing to make him a more valuable trade piece because they're letting the world know we're willing to keep him. And that is a posture that a brilliant GM like Eric Neander would use and to me he's just somebody that, if you're looking at, at places that'll, [00:53:00] will be very hungry to overspend on an ace, the New York - Mets come to mind right away.

And, and I think on the Mets he would do a great job for however long he's healthy, and they have middle infielders and other pitching talents that the Rays could ask for i- in a large enough package to get him. So I think he's basically this off-season's version of Shane Baz and they'll get a huge package back for Drew The problem with that is once you do that, and we noted Nick Martinez and Freddy Peralta, you're leaving a huge gap with your front three, and then you're leaving it all on Griffin Jax, Ryan Pepiot, and Ian Seymour, along with the younger guys that you spoke of.

But you- they can still bring in some, some veteran talent, um, including the aforementioned Zach Eflin, who's a free agent as well. 

Mark Corbett: Wow. . Neander is... He's a master, so I could see where he's a few chess- steps ahead than more than m than most of us would see, [00:54:00] so I'll be curious to see how that plays out.

I do wanna quickly run down two of the eight... There are eight players in the MLB who, what, received a, qualifying offer of- Mm ... $23.15 million, and a couple of them are former Rays. Randy Arozarena, Brandon, Lowe, he's in there, and Jake Bauers as well, so that's kind of interesting. And of those eight, I said, "Well, t- 20...

Wait a minute. Why are all three, all eight of these guys getting the same offer, what, at $23.15 million?" Well, it, took a little homework, but, found out that it's actually a formula based on the average salary of the 125 highest paid MLB players from the preceding season. So there's actually a formula for this.

I thought, baseball's all about numbers. Yeah. I just never know where they're all coming from. 

Mat Germain: So when we talk about salary cap, this is one of those devices they've put in that improves the salary for the players. The same thing with awards, right? [00:55:00] They, for, a- and also the compensation if a player, may, is a rookie and he's on the roster from the beginning so that it adds to his, accumulated time, and then he gets to arbitration faster, and then he gets, yada, yada, yada.

So those are the kinds of things they need to put in more. Um, but yeah, it's, it's nice to see the X-Rays get, get some love and attention. Yeah. And, and I think, I, I don't m- know if there's a perfect system out there. I don't know if you remember when- ... when they used to h- hand out, draft picks like they were candy, and if you had anybody on your roster that got picked up, oh, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and the r- the Rays ended up with like, I don't know, seven picks within the first two rounds one year because-

they, they, they had, signed and let go so many people. Um, I think Alex Anthopoulos and the Rays, both, contributed to the end of that system because they abused it handily. but, but yeah, I, I think, I... I mean, it'll be interesting to see how it goes. 

Mark Corbett: Well, I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward [00:56:00] to the awards coming up here real quickly too.

Let's see, let's see, on the 6th the Platinum Glove Awards. You're looking at the 6th, Heart and Hustle Award. On the 9th, the BBWAA Rookie of the Year Award. On the 10th, the Manager of the Year Awards. On the 11th, the Cy Young Award, and on the 11th also, the Relief Pitcher of the Year Award. So there's, there's plenty going up there on all that.

 we've got, looking out in Arizona here, I think shortly you're gonna find an all-star game. So baseball, you thought it was all done after the World Series? No, there's still plenty of things going on. Mark, 

Mat Germain: again, we're talking, I mean, you, you look at the NHL. They do it all in one night on the big stage.

It's televised. Everybody watches it. There's a... Everybody gets their award on the same night. They don't have the... it's a big event. It's actually in Vegas, and it's whatever. Like, what what is baseball doing? 

Mark Corbett: I don't know. Slicing and dicing it, but making it like the Oscars or something of that nature, [00:57:00] yeah, that would be huge.

 there's... We gotta get, sit down with a marketing guy and pull this all together 'cause there's, there's a lot that can be done, Matt, and- 

Mat Germain: Everybody's gonna lose interest in it as another award comes up. You go, "Oh, another award. Oh, another award." Yeah. "Oh," and they barely talk about it, and it's just a blip in the, in the, on the screen that you see scroll by or maybe you see a little video of them handing the award over.

That's it. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. You're, you're right. It's, it's, it's a marketing, opportunity that's long been missed, so maybe we can help them pipe it up, my friend. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. We'll see what we can do, Mark. I'm gonna get something drafted together here and, I do wanna mention there's other people that are on that, that ballot that we spoke about.

 there's Sandy Alderson, who deserves a mention, Brian Sabean, Ted Turner- 

Mark Corbett: Ooh 

Mat Germain: Ted Turner I thought was very interesting. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, in, in a different way. I mean, because think about it. Ted Turner with TBS, he brought baseball alive for [00:58:00] a lot of people. Yes. And that's, ... And I, I don't know who would've been with WGN in Chicago, but my gosh, he made a impact in the game quite different than anybody else, but jeez.

Mat Germain: He made me a Braves fan. Like, when I was growing up, and that's why I cheered hard for Andrew Jones to get into the Hall of Fame, 'cause I'd never seen anything like that. It is insane what he used to do in center field. But he brought that into my living room- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: through everything that he, worked behind the scenes.

So I appreciated it, and, it made me a smarter, baseball fan as a result. But, yeah, it's interesting. Well, 

Mark Corbett: Cooperstown opened the doors wide is all I gotta say. There's a lot of good people to bring in. 

Mat Germain: Yeah, absolutely. 

Mark Corbett: All right, Matt, you got any other goodies we need to share with folks tonight? 

Mat Germain: No.

Patrick Zalupski, wrote a letter to the fans and, and thanked them very much, and he said there's a lot of more work to be done, et cetera. and I just had a, a read through what he wrote. Thought it was very well done. I [00:59:00] think, the shovels are gonna go into the ground for the new building. My last question to you, Mark, is if they start the process, does it stop during the CBA halt?

Mark Corbett: Ooh. 

Mat Germain: Or does it keep going? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, well, we'll find out, but they hopefully that's ... Hopefully there won't even be a reason to have that question. Hopefully that'll all be resolved and all this brouhaha about the CBA will be taken care of. 

Mat Germain: Exactly. 

Mark Corbett: All right, brother. Well, you have a wonderful evening. It's always a blast chatting with you, Mat.

And, we hope y'all had a good time too. We'll be talking with you again real soon. 

Mat Germain: Off-season bong.

I've gotta come up with a different sound for it. When, when it's the off-season, it should be something different.