RaysUp - Rays & Yankees - All-Star Game - Trade deadline targets

365 RaysUp BaseballBiz July 8

Mark Corbett: [00:00:00] welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. Mat Germain is here with me, Mr. Mark Corbett, and we're loving having you here today talking about all things baseball, but our focus today is gonna be quite a bit about the Rays, the Tampa Bay Rays, what's happening there. And we'll take a look at the All-Star Game and all the little things that come with it, including, um, geez, what else?

Oh my gosh. I meant to ask you, Matt, did you make it to the wedding? 

Mat Germain: Nope. Oh, man. I wasn't invited. But I, I did, uh, I did have some thoughts, you know, uh, about it all and, I thought if you're gonna get married and you're gonna do a big thing and you compare, , what Jeff Bezos did with Italy, and then you compare what Taylor Swift did with New York, which one would be the one that you would be more story-like, 

Mark Corbett: right?

Hmm. Geez, geez, geez. I, I think it would have to be Taylor just 'cause of everything that built up to this moment. But- Yeah ... plus that I have no love for Jeff Bezos. Um, [00:01:00] but ... No, but I, I didn't get my invite in time either. It came late in the mail. I don't know. So I, I wasn't able to make it up here to Madison Square Garden.

Wow. You know, it's ... Now I have, uh, thinking about baseball, I wonder has there been a game played inside Madison Square Garden? I don't think they could, but, uh, w- I have to find out if there's some association with that sometime. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. You could do wiffle ball championship- Ooh ... at Madison Square Garden. I 

Mark Corbett: like that.

Like, 

Mat Germain: JomBoy should be d- on top of that. That would be epic. 

Mark Corbett: That Boy's back- yeah, it's his backyard to boot, man. It would be great. They do so many different things. And sometime we're gonna talk about that baseball where you do it with, like, three people. I think it's called B3, and we'll- Yeah ... we'll dig into that sometime.

That c- that could be the sort of thing they play there. But even though we didn't make it to Taylor's and, Kelsey's, uh, wedding, we've, we have been following what's going on with baseball and certainly our Rays, and my gosh, uh, you know, it's been so much fun watching the [00:02:00] Rays stay ahead of, of the, the Yankees.

I mean, the Yankees before the series just started here at the Trop With the Rays and the Yankees. I think that the Yankees had lost 9 out of 10 games. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: At the beginning of today's, they, we had given them a game to win, so it was actually 8 out of 10 presently. But we're recording this on Wednesday evening, and it's about 8:32.

We're... See, how many innings are into? We're at seven innings, and the Yankees have zero and we have two, and Mr. Yandy Diaz is at the bat. Oh, my gosh, I love this man. And he is w- how many? Three for three tonight. 

Mat Germain: Yeah, he's, he's doing great, and, he's seeing the ball like a beach ball right now, and, and he's a tough out every time he's up there.

I mean, he just has such, a presence to him now that pitchers are, are pretty careful about what they do, but- 

Mark Corbett: Oh, 

Mat Germain: yeah ... he's still able to get pitches that are out of the zone. That's one of his major skills. If he has to, , he will [00:03:00] turn on one that is actually,, a little bit further away or inside and, and make it work.

Mark Corbett: Yeah, I, I was almost more interested in watching him get a single or a double. He just now hit one through. 

Mat Germain: Yep. Exactly, and that was really inside. Like, it wasn't even over the plate I don't think. So, uh, an example of what he, what he does. 

Mark Corbett: You know, what's going on with the Rays, one of the players I've been most critical of over time has been Taylor Walls.

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: And one way you could say I criticize how fantastic he is as a defensive player. 

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: And I, I haven't looked at the numbers specifically, but my gosh, game after game after game, he seems to be getting better at the plate. And it has just been phenomenal to see. It's one of those things. Because you love the player, you love what he does out there, you know, on the field.

And if Junior could get out of his way, that'd be even better. But, oh, you know what I'm saying. Recently there was a couple times when w- the ball was obviously belonged to Taylor Walls, and [00:04:00] Junior got right in front of him. It's like, good Lord, man. Uh, it made an ar- oh, d- what was it? A couple of we- it was about a week or so ago, and it was very obvious that T- Caminero had gotten in front of Walls, and they asked Kevin about it, and he says, "It's Taylor's ball."

You know, it was something very simple and succinct, and he didn't really say any more about it. He said, "What did you think about?" "It was Taylor's ball." You know, it was straight. It pr- it probably went to a l- like a lightning bolt to where, uh, Junior was at the moment. But J- I, I don't even know where to start with this team.

So much is going on right now as far as activity 

Mat Germain: Yeah, it seems like every night they have, like, enough talent to, to put it to, uh, to the other teams , and get some, , some runs across at the key times. Um, I mean, the top of the lineup is definitely doing the dirty work in terms of getting, you know, runs across.

But I've seen a lot of guys like Ryan Vilade and, and, uh, Richie Palacios recently has been going on a tear a little bit. Johnny [00:05:00] DeLuca since he's coming back. , Even some of , , their catchers like Feduccia just coming up, , and they're starting to get that momentum going where , they're all kind of sort of believing in the lineup in general- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah

Mat Germain: not just in themselves, right? So that's- 

Mark Corbett: When you see the guy in the nine hole doing what he did, Feduccia, the other day, I was like, "Wow!" So what was it? Did, did he get a home run, then Yandy get a home run right behind him? Was that what it was? Yeah. Yeah. 

Mat Germain: You could tell when he was interviewed after the game, like, he was very, , happy to have contributed because- Oh, yeah

when he was first brought in, that was supposed to be his calling card, was his bat. So, um, everybody was expecting a little bit more. And I think, like a lot of players do when they come into the league, like, they're putting a lot of pressure on themselves, and they want to do more than, than they probably should with every pitch.

, I love to see it. Like, Taylor Walls just got driven in there, so now it's three-nothing. Mm-hmm. That's a huge run for the Rays. Um, but when you're looking at the standings in general, Mark, like right now we're about to go to the All-Star Game, right? 

Mark Corbett: Yep. 

Mat Germain: Well, what I like to look at what are the gaps?

, First of all, what [00:06:00] are the gaps in divisions? So you're looking at the Rays right now have a four-game lead on New York, and they might end up with a five-game lead at the end of the night. Um, then behind them you have Toronto, who's 11 games back, Boston 12 games back, and, and Baltimore 12 and a half games back.

So when you're talking about the division leaders, like, it's really a race between the Rays and the Yankees, unless both of them, the wheels fall off. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. So 

Mat Germain: that's where you start. And then you're looking at it from the wild card point of view, and it gets even better for the Rays, right?

Because right now the, the cutoff line is basically 500 team. So the Rangers are at 500. , And so when you're looking at the Rays, you know, being what, uh, what are they now? That's 10, 17 games above 500, about to be 18 games above 500. Right. That's quite the gap they've built for themselves. , And I don't think, I would hope anyway, that nobody's making that up.

Um- So, so [00:07:00] essentially , they're almost guaranteed a, a playoff spot, knock on wood. And, uh, and they're putting themselves in a position now where they say, "Okay, how do we upgrade? What do we do to improve this team now that we're in, that solid position?" 

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: So the draft's coming up in three days.

They have one pick that they can trade out of that bunch, the 33rd overall. , There's a catching position that they say they want to upgrade. 

Mark Corbett: Mm. 

Mat Germain: Now, you look around, and when the Rays have picked up catchers recently in recent years, it seems to me like they're prioritizing a lot of the blocking skills, right?

They don't want any pitches to go through. Uh, some defensive abilities, but not always the bat. But when I look at it, Mark, and I'm like, okay, you look, think back to all the playoffs and all the,, key moments, like Miguel Rojas hitting that home run or whatever. Like, the slug seems to be the thing that drives a lot of teams in the playoffs because that one big hit can help you, you know, beat some of the better [00:08:00] pitchers.

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: Because, , that's all it takes. Somebody on base, you get a big hit, boom, you got two runs. That might be all you need to win the game. So, um, I think of Hunter Goodman with the Rockies, and, and he's been one of those, uh, enigmas on that team, and I know that the, they would hate to, to have to trade him.

But you have to be realistic when you're the Rockies and you're trying to beat some of the, , really high-end teams in that division, and I don't think that they're gonna sign him to a, a huge long extension either. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: But, , some of the, his stats as a Rockies player that you look at and you're like, "Oh, well, this is intriguing," I mean, he's got one of the highest, uh, isolated powers, yes.

That's what everybody says, supposed to be because of the Rocky, , you know, Coors Field. But his away- 

Mark Corbett: Ex- explain that too. Explain isolated power ... 

Mat Germain: because it's Mile High Stadium, which is basically what we call it, um, then they're at a, at a height where they do hu- use a humidor to try to temper down the altitude that [00:09:00] the impact that it'll have on hits and, and the amount of home runs that'll be hit there as a result.

I don't remember what the numbers were when they ori- originally went in there before the humidor, but it, it was pretty funny to watch because you'd see players go there. They get these huge contracts. They leave and then it's like, "Oh, what happened?" 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: But, uh- Too soon? Yeah, exactly. So the- I'm 

. Hunter Goodman actually has a higher isolated power away from Coors than he does at Coors. 

Mark Corbett: Wow. 

Mat Germain: Uh, all of his statistics hitting-wise are better away than they are at Coors. So it begs the question then, okay, it's supposed to have... , it's supposed to be extremely hard to do that because of , the impact that playing at altitude has on your body as well.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And then so there's supposed to be some wear and tear, especially from the catcher position. So when he's able to do that with the Rockies, it, it begs the question, like, what would he do on another team? , when I think back to the best Rays teams, they've had [00:10:00] a slugger, like Mike Zunino and, and like Wilson Ramos, a couple of other ones.

Right. That's when their, their lineup was really the most dangerous in the, in the playoff moments. So, um, I think- It would behoove them to kind of look down that road and say, "Okay, well, if we're gonna go out and get a catcher, we're not gonna prioritize defensive abilities." If you want them to be good, don't get me wrong, that's still-

key to the position. But to have, , Hunter Goodman in there I think would really, off the bench especially, give Kevin Cash an ability to inject some offense when he needs it in those key moments. 

Mark Corbett: Wow. Well, what's going on here now? So l- who do we have pitching? We got Sulser pitching now, so I guess- 

Mat Germain: Oh.

But- Cole Sulser has been- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: quite the, the arm there over the last 30 days. When I, when I looked it up recently, he's within the top 20, , arms, relief-wise, , over the last 30 days. [00:11:00] So, , he's underrated, really, amongst , the Rays pitchers, I think, , when it comes to how effective he's been this year, and he's one of their veterans.

Like, he's not supposed to be, uh, you know, one of the key guys, but, uh, Brian Baker and him have really solidified the back of the, of the bullpen. 

Mark Corbett: Wow. I, I mean, I always like seeing him. I, I'm so used to seeing Clevenger there. And the, but Baker has just been amazing. He's been amazing to watch, you know, because I was so concerned when we lost Pete Fairbanks, and I thought, "Are we gonna get somebody like that again, somebody with that kind of attitude and ability?"

And I think- Mm ... Baker has definitely proven himself in that role, because watching him the other night taking the Yankees down into the ninth and the joy that you would see, the, the intensity, uh, it is, it was really great. , Sulser, yeah, I'm, I'm glad to see he's, he's performing well.

Now, when you look across the Rays right now, and with the trade deadline [00:12:00] coming up, there's, there's so many elements that are working right now, Mat. I mean, what do you, what do you want? What do you trade for? Do you, are you looking for a little bit more, um, batting? Because we're seeing, you know, f- the spots four through nine are actually performing pretty well.

Mat Germain: I, I do wanna temper, like, some of the thing, the ways that the Rays have been winning recently has been against, I don't wanna call it lesser competition- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: but against competition they're supposed to beat. , So it's good to get excited, and it's good that they're actually delivering against some of those teams, 'cause a lot of times there's fallback from teams.

Like, they, they, oh, they're, I don't know, the mindset changes to, "Oh, we're supposed to win," and then they end up losing. 

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: Baseball gets like that sometimes. But, um, I would say compare yourself to the best. So if you were up against the Dodgers every night- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: what would you want your team to be like?

'Cause that's what's , you're gonna be facing in the playoffs. So I, I always think you wanna solidify, and I think the Rays have done something [00:13:00] interesting, Mark, which is, , they've added a lot of depth in, in AAA that are MLB-tested and ready. Like, that's the first time I think I've ever seen that many MLB guys ready to roll in AAA.

Mm-hmm. Like, and, and people forget too, like, there's, there's guys that they went out and grabbed, um, you know, in the off-season or in recent trades, where they ended up bringing them in. Like, Gavin Lux is an example. Gavin Lux is still, uh, active. 

Mark Corbett: I forgot about him, I'll be quite honest with you. I, I know who he is.

Yeah. I, I remember 

Mat Germain: him. Exactly. You're 

Mark Corbett: not alone. Like- We gave, what did we spend? You gave him a million dollars and nothing's happened. I, I'm sorry. That, that's, that's... 

Mat Germain: Yeah. So e- a lot of times nagging injuries can hold players back, right? Yeah. And, and we get that. I think Taylor Walls was a good example.

He had the hip issues and he had to get surgery, et cetera. But Gavin Lux still has a significant amount of ability. Carson Williams is still down there working on his stuff and he, I just [00:14:00] saw he had a home run and a, a stolen base yesterday. I think he has 13 home runs, double digit steals. He's still improving his game.

Mark Corbett: Wow. 

Mat Germain: Um, they, they have Oliver Dunn that they brought in from, uh, the White Sox. They have Jake Cave that they brought in who's a, an outfielder who's got a lot of experience. Jake Fraley is on his way back. He's actually finishing. He should be back any day now, , in the outfield. , Jacob Melton is the guy they traded for from the Astros , and he's an excellent option if they need somebody else in the outfield.

They have Homer Bush Jr. who we talked about- Yeah ... with the, uh, manager in double A,, who's supposed to be a, a very excellent, , option. He's getting the seasoning he needs down there, so if ever they needed to call on him, 'cause they had a series of injuries, he's good to go. Then they have Austin Slater, , who they had brought in.

I'm not sure what his status is. And the last one they've brought in recently is Nick Madrigal. Uh, Nick Madrigal, you're talking about, the hit tool, right? The, if you're, if you're [00:15:00] going into the playoff situation, a lot of injuries happen in September. You need to call on somebody who you just wanna keep churning that lineup through.

He's a little bit like a Miguel Rojas kind of guy- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: that could actually come in and, and inject some, some solid abilities if you ever needed him to. Um, so it doesn't mean that they're going to be using these guys, but it's the first time I can remember in a long time where they have so many options that have had significant track records in MLB.

So I think they've built that up on purpose because they wanna mitigate all the risk that happens later on this season and to plug any holes if they need to rest guys here and there. Um, so the, I don't wanna call it phantom injury, uh, but- No ... sometimes those come up, you know? And then- 

Mark Corbett: No, but you know what is interests me too is looking at it's like, well, you almost have an expansion team right there. I mean, these guys you're talking about didn't just come up for a cup of coffee. They played in the MLB. You know, they were there for more than just come up for a [00:16:00] few games. And that's, uh, that's something in and of itself.

So if we have that kind of depth at our AAA level, is there really any much room or need to, to make changes with the Rays? 

Mat Germain: So I, I think you can be aggressive and, and look for options that are gonna help you out just for this year but also next year. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So I'll give you an example. Like, Zach Neto is a guy that I would go after.

Mark Corbett: Mm. 

Mat Germain: I don't feel the Angels are anywhere near ready to compete. , I think they have to be realistic. , And with Zach Neto, what you're doing is , you're elevating the offensive side of your shortstop position to the point where, , the floor of your entire lineup goes up a notch. And, and to me, if you have a guy who's able to do double digit home runs , and steals and still gives you solid defense, um, at the shortstop position, he's not gonna be as good as Taylor Walls, but he's very comparable to Ta- Taylor Walls.

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. 

Mat Germain: [00:17:00] So, , I think that if you had to pay the price of, let's say, Carson Williams and other pieces to get Zach Neto because you're making that playoff push, I think the, the Angels would be very interested in that 'cause they can start building around it. Carson Williams is MLB ready. Uh, like, something like that would make a lot of sense.

Uh, they have other guys at shortstop behind him that they know are coming up as well, like Cooper Fleming and, , Adrian Santana who aren't far off from, . So there's still more talent coming in at the position behind them, but I feel like the Rays, if they want to go for it this year- They need to do those tweaks because when you're comparing yourself to the Dodgers, when you're comparing yourself to the, the behemoths of the National League is what I'll call them- Right

um, then you need to actually be honest with yourself. Do you really need to have Taylor Walls in the lineup when you're going up against the Dodgers, or would you be more comfortable with Zach Neto? So like to [00:18:00] me, Neto and Goodman are two options that I would look at. And on the pitching side, you can always tweak your pen.

So I had an, , Drew Anderson- from the Tigers as an option. Like, um, what you want essentially in the playoffs if you can get it, is, um, is guys who strike guys out, right? You want the whiff. Um, so when you're looking at Drew Anderson, he's a little bit more of a mature arm, like a little bit like Cole Sulser, where he's been around the block a little bit.

He's 32 years old. He actually went to Korea and Japan, came back, and now he's, I mean, he's getting a lot of swing and miss. And what I like about him is that he's able to actually get multiple innings. To me, one of the fears that I have for the Rays is that arms will start falling off as they near the playoffs, and they'll need the extra innings from everybody.

And so when I look at Drew Anderson, I think he's able to actually go two innings, three innings, four innings even in some cases if needed. And, when you're looking at the playoffs, how many guys recently, like [00:19:00] I don't remember last year's, but in recent years it seems like three, four innings, you know, you're lucky- Yeah

if you get that of your starter. And then after that it becomes a pen game. So, um, I think Drew Anderson would be a great fit there. And the last one I'll throw out to you, Mark, is, , Freddy Peralta. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, man. 

Mat Germain: Freddy Peralta's had a heck of a time with the Mets. He's not happy there. He's going to be a free agent in 2027.

I'm pretty sure the Mets would pick up the bill on money-wise. Yeah. Uh, on a lot of what he's owed. So then it just becomes a match of prospects and what you're wanting to deal away. But I feel like Freddy Peralta needs a change of scenery and that Kyle Snyder and the gurus with the Rays would be able to harness his stuff and, and show him a couple of things that would actually get him back into that groove.

And, and I hope that if they did acquire somebody like that, they would get him early enough to make those tweaks before they get to the playoffs. Um, so those are the guys I'll throw out to you, Mark. [00:20:00] 

Mark Corbett: Well, it's good times for the Rays, and it's, you know, I think, what do we got? I think four guys going or more to the All-Stars, and at, it's Drew, I believe, uh, Junior Caminero, who's also gonna be in the, uh, Home Run Derby.

One of the Yankees will be there as well, Ben Rice, who's been fun to watch, by the way. Mm-hmm. Yes. You know, I, I just don't want him doing too well, this week. But it's been, you know, watching it. So who do we got? We got, uh, is Yandy, Junior, Drew, who, uh, Aranda, is that it? Do I got that right? Maybe not. Let's see Uh, to the- 

Mat Germain: For, for the Rays- Yeah

I think you got it right. Yeah, there's Baker, Caminero, Diaz, and Rasmussen that, uh- 

Mark Corbett: Okay ... 

Mat Germain: Aranda's on- So 

Mark Corbett: Baker. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Baker, good. Well, you have to respect what he's done. Uh, we were talking about that earlier. Baker's just been amazing, it has been interesting. And now, watching this week too with the Yankees, and watching the first game that we lost, [00:21:00] wow, Caballero just seemed like he was enjoying it too damn much.

Mat Germain: He's always having fun. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, he is. He is. Between him and Jazz Chisholm, it's, it's silly, I mean, to, to watch those guys. But you know, it always gives me a reason to s- just like, "Oh, I don't like you guys, you Yankees." It just ... Y- you're enjoying this too much, and you're, you're, you're just trying to rub it in, you know?

But that's, that's just me being silly. But I've ... It's always been fun. I think I told you years ago, when I first moved down here to Tampa, I took a job with the New York Times. And it was interesting, because everybody I worked with there, the majority of them were from New York. So when we went to see the Trop, they're all pulling for New York, and it's like, "Come on, people, you live here now.

Okay?" And then, then the Times bought the Boston Globe. So the next damn thing, I'm around a bunch of Red Sox fans. "Hey Mark, you wanna go to the game with us?" [00:22:00] "No. No. I might go, but I'm not going with you. Come on." But, uh, they are passionate about the game, those fans. Yeah. And thankfully so. 

Mat Germain: Have you looked at the, uh, the ex-Rays that are going to the All-Star game?

Mark Corbett: No. Who, who are we ... Is- 

Mat Germain: You got Christopher Sanchez is, one of the major pitchers, starting-wise. , You have Riley O'Brien, who was in the system with the Rays for quite a few years. , He's going there for the, the Cardinals. , You have Randy Arozarena, everybody's favorite.

Mark Corbett: There you 

Mat Germain: go. Uh, you know, had his own section at the Trop. I think we can still cheer for him at the All-Star game. Michael Wacha is going as well for the Royals, and I know I enjoyed watching him. I thought it was fun to w- you know, a fun pitcher to keep track of on the mound and, and to have around.

Um, so it's too bad he didn't stick around longer than that. But then, um, there's one more, I think. I'm trying to remember. [00:23:00] Uh- One- It'll come to me. 

Mark Corbett: One Fairbanks, though 

Mat Germain: Nope. 

Mark Corbett: And okay, who is, who's with the r- Jake E. Byers is doing well with the Brewers. Is he, he a consideration there? Maybe not, huh? 

Mat Germain: No. 

Mark Corbett: No. 

Mat Germain: I don't think so.

Mark Corbett: No, it, it is fun watching these guys. Like I said, watching the other night, seeing Fairbanks pitching to Arozarena. Fairbanks there with the, the Marlins, Miami Marlins, and Brandy with the, the Mariners. It was it was, it was fun to watch. But Love seeing these guys. Let's see right now, oh, what's happened in the game thus far.

So the score's still three to zip, and, uh, Boone got kicked out earlier for, for, uh, being upset saying that he, uh... The umpire said, "I'm sorry, you wanted to review that call, but you waited too damn long. It was one second too long." And for the looks of it, he wouldn't have won it anyway, but I think t- him and one of his coaches got kicked out of it.

So it's Baker pitch- [00:24:00] Yeah, it's, uh, top of the ninth, Baker's pitching. Hmm. 

Mat Germain: Have you, uh, have you looked at the, uh, 'cause Evan Longoria weekend's coming up, right? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And, and they're opening up the top section. So have you, , looked , at what tickets are going the upper levels?

Mark Corbett: No, I'm sure it's insane. What, what have you, have you seen? 

Mat Germain: No, I, I'm just going in right now and I'm, I'm looking at the upper echelon and there's nothing available. Oh. There's some available at the lower bowl, but I think they've been eaten up for the most part. Uh, the, the lowest level I can get to is, like, the, the 208, 218-ish and, uh, and they're about 80 bucks a piece.

Sh- Uh, you know, those are not the lower bowl, but then you go down to the lower bowl and those ones are, well, you know, in some sections pretty interesting, up to 900 bucks. And then- Sweet jeebies ... in the outfield, uh, we got 60, 80,

130, so it depends on which [00:25:00] row, I guess you'd call the- Oh my 

Mark Corbett: gosh. 

Mat Germain: Wow. So yeah, they're, they're doing great with that sa- the sales for that weekend. I think, , opening up the top level, I'm assuming that, you know, the site that I'm looking at has them as part of what would be available if they were. 

Mark Corbett: Right.

Mat Germain: Uh, but then you jump onto StubHub and just compare the two. 'Cause sometimes they issue them out to different, um... Yeah, you see when I go on StubHub it says, "Selling fast," for, for that weekend. So- Oh ... I'm just gonna 

Mark Corbett: look for 

Mat Germain: two tickets, and then we're gonna- Of 

Mark Corbett: course that's gotta be the case. I'm sorry. 

Mat Germain: Yeah.

They do have some available in the upper echelon, and what they're offering there is $37 for the lowest and up to about 44 it looks like. 

Mark Corbett: Uh- That seems reasonable ... 

Mat Germain: yeah, that's the, that's what I was looking for, yeah. Um, and they, they have much lower ones in the outfield as well, uh, down to 30 bucks. Um, so if you, s- long story short, if you're going to buy tickets, go through [00:26:00] StubHub and not the, not the other site, which I won't mention.

Mark Corbett: Yeah, yeah. Geez, Manese. No, man, I tell you what, the, you can be a regular bleacher bum

Mat Germain: yeah ... 

Mark Corbett: I always enjoyed it up there in the 300s. It was a lot of fun, and they had one part that was, like, a bar. I, I don't know what the, how they've repurposed it now, but it was right there, and I always enjoyed that section and working up there with those people.

And I do remember being there one time with the Yankees and Rays game, and there was some, I, I gotta tell you, the, this may sound strange, but I found the Yankees fans to be, oh, I don't know, I'd say more fun to be with than, than the Red Sox fans, no matter 

Mat Germain: what. 

Mark Corbett: More colorful? More colorful. M- certainly more colorful, but actually more enjoying the game instead of being there for some dogged rivalry.

Ah. Of course, this is, you know, pre, uh, Sabathia hitting some, hitting a Ray. But it's, it was always fun to be up in the 300s.

That's also the section where, you know, when [00:27:00] they, if you have dog days and you w- bring your dogs up to the 300 level, and you have- Right ... people walking around with pooper scoopers the whole time.

But looks like there might be some pooper scoopers for the Yankees at the end of this inning here, so we'll see. 

Mat Germain: I like how you turned that. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Uh, the, the thing about it all is I think, you know, for the Rays, uh, to do that is, is nice. I hope people take advantage of it just because it is for Evan, right?

I think Evan more than any player that I can remember, you know, was dedicated heart and soul to the Rays. 

Mark Corbett: Yep. 

Mat Germain: And, and I hope the fans, you , recognize that and fill the seats for him so that it shows a kind of thank you on their part for him, the commitment that he showed to the city and, and the team.

I mean, he, he was crushed when he was dealt. , I don't think, , he was so close to the 10 and 5 rates- 

Mark Corbett: Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: uh, that, that he could see it around the corner. Um, [00:28:00] and I think, you know, I do wonder what his career would have ended like if he had stayed with the Rays. Mm-hmm. How different would it have been than San Francisco?

I have no idea. I, I don't know if he sticks it out longer because he's with the Rays. Uh, I don't, y- you can never tell these things. 

Mark Corbett: No. 

Mat Germain: So, but you do have to recognize the moment, and so I'm s- I'm encouraging fans to get out there. , If you're thinking about going to a game sometime this year, this might be the game that you want to be at because it'll be a special moment.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. There's no doubt. I'm, I'm really happy about that. I love that the, his walk-up music, they're actually gonna have the artist Tantric there to do the music down and out, and that was always fun to listen. Anytime Evan was gonna be walking up there to, to hear the, the violin strings for that, it's just amazing.

Mat Germain: Mm-hmm. 

Mark Corbett: But well, it looks like things are done here. I'm looking over here and I'm seeing, uh, Mr. Baker beating his chest and, uh- 

Mat Germain: When he screams and he gets that ugly, you know, like, uh, [00:29:00] almost like, scary look to him- Yeah ... I would say. Like, he, he's happy. You can see the smile, but you're like, "Whoa.

Do I wanna go up and give him a high five? I don't 

Mark Corbett: know." No. He's, he looks so daggone intense, you know? It's like if Thanos was laughing, I think that's, has that kind of l- look to it. It's like, "Oh, okay, I'm glad you're enjoying the joke, but, uh..." No. We're, we're very fortunate to have him there, and it's, it's amazing to watch him.

Like, so I, I wondered if we were gonna get another Pete, and he's not another Pete. He's a Baker, and he's a damn good Baker. He's- 

Mat Germain: The other thing we haven't talked about yet is Shane McClanahan. 

Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh. 

Mat Germain: Like, six and th- uh, six point, uh, point one innings, four hits, no walks, five Ks. Yeah. Zero runs against the Yankees.

I know Judge isn't there. It's still the Yankees. He still has to perform. It's the health and the sharpness and the smile on his face coming off the mound. In the... Like, you know this is what he's been waiting for, is- Yeah ... to get that [00:30:00] touch and feel back to the point where he can dominate hitters consistently.

So it's great to see. I hope him and Jax both continue the run that they're on in terms of, of being consistent cogs, in the rotation. 'Cause, you know, Drew's doing great. Nick Martinez is doing great. It's just, it, you know what it feels like, Mark? When too many things are going right with the rotation, you're just crossing your fingers and toes and you're like, "Okay.

I want this to continue- "... all the way through to the playoffs." Like, just, you know, keep riding it. But- 

Mark Corbett: Oh, yeah. Yeah ... 

Mat Germain: hope- hopefully they can. 

Mark Corbett: I think they will. I'm really looking forward to it. You know, you, you talk about riding it all the way through. I was watching some of that game today where Dylan Cease for Toronto, I think they were, like, seven up, seven to zero over the Giants, and he had a no-hitter going on.

And it was MLB Network and they kept going back to it and going back to it, and it's like, are they gonna let him go into, [00:31:00] y- from the seventh, they gonna go into the eighth? And sure enough, they did, and he did that, did well. And are they, are they gonna let him go into the ninth? Well, you can't let him go in the eighth and not let him go in the ninth, you know?

But so he went in there, and unfortunately one of them got a hit off of him, but it was amazing to see. And you see that kind of talent- You see that kind of control of a pitcher, and it's exciting. So when you mention all this about Shane McClanahan, it's, it is good to see the kind of game he pitched tonight.

It's good to see the joy in his face, you know, for what he's achieving out there on the mound, and to see a control that I didn't know we would see again, be quite honest with you. Uh, so it, it was a great game to, to watch tonight. If you haven't, uh, you have the ability to go watch it again later on, I'd suggest you do so.

Folks, it is an interesting four-game match up with the Yankees here at Tropicana Field. . Getting ready for the Longo weekend, and then of [00:32:00] course the All-Star week as well. A lot of things cooking. 

Mat Germain: Yeah, Joe Ryan is the guy that I was thinking of that's an X-ray that's also going to be in the All-Star game.

Mark Corbett: There you go. That was 

Mat Germain: the one I was missing. Wow. So speaking of the All-Star game and speaking of all the stuff going on, there's also the MLB draft coming up. What? The MLB draft, which means that if you're a Rays top prospect right now, there's a good chance you're not going to be the top prospect in, you know, less than a week, because the Rays are selecting second overall.

Um, and what I'm hearing is, is some mixed baggage now for the first time. And it, it tends to happen the closer that the, the, uh, the draft comes to. I mean, everybody has their own opinions, and they have the things that they like most It's sometimes there's a guaranteed guy at the top, right?

Paul Skenes was that guy. He- Mm-hmm ... he wasn't gonna get moved off number one. He never did. Nobody predicted anybody [00:33:00] different. This year is a little bit- different. Um, there's been some consistencies in terms of the top three and who they are. So you have, uh, Roch Cholowsky, he's in

a shortstop from US- UCLA. , You have Grady Emerson, who's a shortstop from Fort Worth, Texas. Uh, he's a high school guy. And then you have Vahn Lackey, who's a catcher from Georgia Tech. Those three have been consistently at the top of the draft. So the, the thought process is right now, the, the latest rumors that I've heard is that Grady Emerson's gonna be the selection that the White Sox go with, and not- Mm-hmm

Roch Cholowsky. And that would like completely change the, the thought process from the Rays point of view, because there's a lot of risk with high school shortstops, right? And, and the Rays haven't always had the best success with that risk. So, um, I- a lot of people were predicting Vahn Lackey would be the guy that the Rays go with.

But if Rock is a p- is available at two, [00:34:00] I don't think they can walk away from that. You have a college-ready, a, a college guy, you know, a shortstop premium defender, which the Rays love a shortstop. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: They value that, right? And he's a 25 home run guy on top of it, that could slot next to Junior Caminero for the next 10 years.

Like, you know, how do you say no to that? Like, I, I, I think they would have a hard time passing on. Now, I would get it if they did, 'cause Vahn Lackey is definitely a very significant strong choice. The catcher would be the best catcher they've ever selected, or the most highly ranked or rated one that they've ever selected.

, But I, I don't think they could walk away from Roch Cholowsky. I don't think. 

Mark Corbett: Well, it is gonna be interesting to see what they finally do with that, Matt, and, uh, I, I love this time of year. It's whether it be the All-Star Game, whether we're looking at a draft. You know, a few weeks back we had the Combine going on, [00:35:00] and it's, uh, and of course, then we got the CBA, and we're not gonna talk about that today.

But there's, there's a whole lot of different things, a whole lot of moving parts, but it's an exciting time. It's an exciting time to be a Rays fan, no matter what you're doing. Yeah. And to, to look, and thank you for sharing, too, the depth, the depth at the Triple-A of what we have as far as major league players that are there.

To me, th- I, that gives me hope for if there's, if there's any difficulties, a pool of talent that above and beyond the 26. 

Mat Germain: Let's just paint the picture of, of where you are as a Rays fan, right? You're number one in the American League, right? Number one. There's nobody better right now in, in the whole league.

Your, your Low A and High A teams have already cl- classified for the playoffs, so they're gonna be playing in the playoffs. Your system is ranked in the top 10. Uh, you're about to select the second overall pick, so you're gonna get a phenom of some sort, uh, added to [00:36:00] the franchise. Junior Caminero is lighting up MLB like crazy.

Yeah. You've got four All-Stars on your roster. You have your manager locked in for five years. You have your general manager locked in, it seems like, for life. , You have the pitching coach that everybody would wanna have to go into, the rest of the season with. Like, and you have money to spend at the trade deadline.

Like, this is just one of those moments where the only thing they're really missing, Marc, the only thing the Rays do not have is a stadium deal. That is the only thing that, that, that would put the cherry on top of the sundae.

Mark Corbett: Well, the enthusiasm, Matt, in this community is there. 

Mat Germain: Mm. 

Mark Corbett: And I just hope to heck that, like I said, billionaires and politicians can come together and find a common ground because [00:37:00] this city has committed to baseball for decades, you know? For over a century. Baseball built so much when you look at the cigar industry from Ybor and everything that's flown out from that.

We've talked time and again, I mean, if you walk around you'll find whether it be Lou Piniella, David Magadan, uh, t- was it Tamargo, all these names just around the city. And, uh, was listening to Ron Darling talking about the game with DeWayne Staats the other day, and he was talking about, uh, Pompano Beach, but then he was also talking about Plant City, which is right on the, the outset of, of, uh, of Tampa where I live these days.

So there's all these people who have lived here or who are living here who are part of baseball, who love the game, and we wanna see it happen. So I hope that they can all put, you know, hold hands together, do the kumbaya, and get this done. And I know politically for some people it may seem a little difficult to do, but I think that something can be done.[00:38:00] 

Let's get that deal done. Let's, let's get that stadium. These Rays deserve it, and the, us as fans, we deserve it. So let's make it happen. 

Mat Germain: I love it. Get it done. 

Mark Corbett: All right, brother. Any other goodies we should share? 

Mat Germain: Uh, I ... No, I don't have any other goodies. I really don't. I, I'm in a happy place, Mark. I think we're all in a happy place.

The Rays are, are winning and winning and winning, and I just want them to keep doing that and keep everybody healthy. 

Mark Corbett: There you go, my friend. That's- Let's keep it rolling. It's good times, boys and girls. We wanna thank you all again, Matt and I, for joining us here today on another Rays Up edition of BaseballBiz On Deck.

And it's all about having fun with the game. You know, Matt always says, and I do as well, make sure you go out to some of the, the minor league games and see those as well. I mean, my gosh, Matt, you're talking about AAA, you've got a whole major league team right there. Go out to your colleges, see the great players.

See [00:39:00] those hungry young players who wanna move up. A lot of thing, good things going on. So look forward to seeing ... Uh, any other last words, M- Matt? 

Mat Germain: No. I, I'll just say that the Durham Bulls are actually leading their division in the second half right now because of how good they are. 

Mark Corbett: Ooh. All right, boys and girls.

Well, thank you for joining us here today, and we look forward to talking to you again real soon. Ta-da. Bong. Give me, give it again. 

Mat Germain: Bong. 

Mark Corbett: I love it. All right,