Tampa Bay Rays,“Speed Doesn't Slump” Pitching Relief & AL East

BaseballBiz On Deck – Tampa Bay Rays, RaysUp 306, Chandler Simpson

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Yes. Oh, welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck, ed. Yes. Oh, I am an Ozzy Osborne fan, and that was crazy Train. Just a strange, little different intro to the show here today, Mat. Uh, all aboard, and that's what it feels like right now with the Rays. It's a crazy train. I've, I've, I've had certain visions of this team and they've just changed with the moment, you know, man, I'm, I'm looking.

[00:00:30] I, I'll actually let you talk in a second. I mean, I'm looking, last year, the White Sox, they won 41 games and we were kind enough to give 'em 10% of those wins. Last year we delivered four games. I'm not sure how many we're gonna give 'em this week. I mean, we gave 'em one the other day, but they're looking pretty good tonight.

[00:00:50] So, how in the world are you doing, Mat? 

[00:00:52] Mat Germain: I'm doing good. The weather's been really blessing us with some good summer days, so we're feeling the heat, which is awesome. Um, [00:01:00] I fi I find like when that happens, I'm very baseball, you know, uh, savvy and in into the games and wanting to watch more of them and go watch them here like with the kids.

[00:01:11] And so, uh, yeah, I'm in baseball mode basically. Mark. 

[00:01:15] Mark Corbett: Well, there isn't any reason to be, is there, I mean, the All-Star game is gone. We're at what I think probably right at a hundred games into the season, so only got about 62 left or somewhere around those lines. And it is hungry time. It is interesting because a lot of teams that you're looking across will take a peek across the, the league, what's happening and how that may be impacting some decisions these teams are making on.

[00:01:42] Who they're gonna keep and not see just for grins and giggles, how are our good friends in the Al East doing? It's been, uh, it's been interesting, Mat, I, I did not foresee, um, us falling back so much and the Blue Jays, you know, going ahead as far [00:02:00] as they have to be quite honest with you. Right now, if we're looking at the A A L East, we're looking at the Blue Jays.

[00:02:07] Um, let's see, Yankees are back behind them, three games back. Red Sox, six games back, we're six and a half games back, and the Orioles are 14 and a half games back. Ouch. Right. 

[00:02:20] Mat Germain: So what you know, right there, just from saying that, and, and really all the AL East are within contention of the MLB Wild Card. I think the Rays are a half game out of the wild card.

[00:02:29] So like, they're all right in there. So the one thing you can say is Orioles are sellers. Okay. That's, that's an official, right. And then the Rays. And Red Sox are two good weeks away from being in first place. Right? That's the way that I like to see it, because there's, there's, you know, ups and downs to every team you have.

[00:02:49] By Good Week, a bad week could be against any team, as we've seen the Rays struggle with a few of the, uh, you expected them to walk over teams. , But [00:03:00] what, what it paints in terms of a pitcher is four teams right there that are AL, centric and, and. Have to make a strong decision on, on what they're going to do moving forward.

[00:03:12] Now, when you're looking at them, just, just from what I know in terms of prospects and what they have to trade with or what they need, right. The Rays and Red Sox need the least amount of things because they have really loaded up their systems. Uh, the, the Yankees are very thin and they had very small draft, like they didn't have a, a lot of picks near the top of the draft to lean on like the Rays did.

[00:03:38] , And the Red Sox as well, and neither did the Blue Jays. So the, but the Blue Jays have a better system. So what I would say is when you're looking at assets to trade between those four teams, blue Jays, red Sox, and Rays are a really strong position. The Yankees have the worst time and they have the biggest need, which is starting pitching.

[00:03:55] So it'll be curious to see how the, the Yankees, [00:04:00] you know, use the smoke and veil that they always do in trade and try to. To bring somebody in and, you know, they'll bring Mitch Keller and give up, four mediocre prospects that'll never see MLB with, , with the pirates. Um, they'll, they'll pull something off like that,

[00:04:15] , it is just the Yankees way and they have, uh, Pittsburgh to lean on as an affiliate.

[00:04:19] So it's, it's one of those things that I think. It makes it very intriguing because you also have a couple of teams that have slid in the other divisions, right? So you have the guardians, um, that, that, that are kind of making a late push here. But the royals and twins behind them really have kind of started to slide back in terms of the Wild card.

[00:04:41] So they're four, four and a half games back of the Wild Wildcard. Those are the teams with assets that are intriguing that a lot of teams will go, huh, I wonder who I can get from them. Can I get a Joan Deron? Can I get, uh, somebody from the Royals that can really help us push the, the needle forward?

[00:04:56] And the same thing with the, uh, AL Wests with the [00:05:00] Angels. The Angels seemed like they were gonna play with everybody else for a while, but now they've lost three in a row, four outta la Uh, they only have four wins in the last 10 games. Um, and so they're four and a half games back of the Wild Card. So those three teams, the Royals, twins, and, and Angels are three that you're starting to look at going, I, I can't see them making a huge investment.

[00:05:23] In this trade deadline based on what we know today, um, we could get surprised sometimes. We've seen teams that just believe in themselves and what they have and, and are things like a prospect or two that they know is coming. That'll help push them ahead as well. So that's where I, I lean with, with the Rays.

[00:05:41] I, I sit there and I go, okay, so you can go and make an and a huge trade, bring somebody in, or you have a couple of assets that are in AAA and you can actually try to make room for them by trading somebody else. And then get to know a little bit more about what it is that you [00:06:00] have while maintaining your competitiveness, to be quite honest, because those players are really outstanding talents.

[00:06:06] Yeah. 

[00:06:07] Mat Germain: You're, you're just sort of throwing the dice on the table and saying, okay, I don't know what I'm going to get this year, but this is for the long term, you know, build. Um, or they can pull that back and say, okay, we're gonna keep them in AAA as had been intended when we started the year, and we're gonna go and, and dive in somewhere else and see what we can do.

[00:06:29] Because we have, we added last off sea, uh, mid-season, right? Yeah. When Randy Rosana everybody else. So now they say, okay, we're, we're just gonna, you know, push a, a few more chips in because we added some chips last year and now we have them to trade. So we're gonna see what we can do and, and try to mix it up.

[00:06:47] Um, either one could work because injuries will happen. You might still need to dive into minors. Um. I don't think it's going to be mind blowing, per se, unless the new owners are willing to sign bigger [00:07:00] checks for what the assets that they bring in, because that opens up a whole different thing. Do you remember way back, but even before the, the Christopher Morel trade, the Rays had been in talks with the Cubs about a few trades when the Rays were really, they were gonna contend for the World Series, essentially like that year they were pushing really to go deep in the playoffs.

[00:07:18] Right? Right. It was 21. Uh, and, and a lot of trades that they kept being rumored to be close to, kept getting nixed because ownership didn't want to pick up the tab and neither did the other team's ownership. You have to wonder what would've happened if those trades went through. But this year somebody else is gonna pick up that tab eventually.

[00:07:39] And let's say that the player has, , is in arbitration, but a high level arbitration and he has one year left. Will the Rays be happy to pick up that tab this time around and say, okay, it's not a barrier to the trade. We'll make it happen. That , an intriguing door that the Rays have to work with this year, man.

[00:07:58] Mark Corbett: Yeah. But you're, you're talking [00:08:00] about a flexibility in spending money that do think the, the owner we have today, that may not happen, right. But the, the future owner, it could happen. Mm-hmm. And, and I, I'll be interested to see it too. Um, but one of the things you were talking today, as far as the trades too, I saw you mention the pirates.

[00:08:21] Oh gosh. Those, those poor souls man, well, they only got like 41 wins right now. Yeah. They're the bottom of their division. And we, we bullied them basically when it comes to trades. Um, will they ever open their doors to, again, to Eric Neander. 

[00:08:38] Mat Germain: I, it's a really intriguing thing to, to think about because I. I don't know, like the, the general manager's trade, uh, has changed since then, but the owner hasn't.

[00:08:49] Yeah, right. So he's the one feeling the sting of that trade. 'cause he probably hears about it over and over and over and over again. Like, and I think I put it up on, on it today, out of that trade, the, the [00:09:00] pirates got 0.9 FWAR and the Rays so far have 28.4 FWAR out of that trade. So you're talking, you know, one of the most lopsided trade of, of this, , this decade.

[00:09:13] So. 

[00:09:15] Mark Corbett: Let's remind folks who that, who those bodies were that came into the Rays organization. 

[00:09:20] Mat Germain: So initially it was Chris Archer, who was a lead at the time going to the Pirates. The Rays got tire glass now, Shane Boz and Austin Meadows. Austin Meadows and Tire Glass. Now were the two pieces at the time that everybody glowed about.

[00:09:34] I was like, no, no, no, no, no. Shane B is the best of the bunch. And we're starting to see a little bit of that now. Still health concerns with Shane, but eventually they ended up trading Tyler Glass. Now for Ryan Pepiot, you could argue it was a two for two trade, but we all know it was glass. Now for Pep Pepiot and then Margot for DeLuca, it was basically even on that keel, right?

[00:09:55] Uh, and then they also dealt, um, Austin Meadows for ice. Uh, [00:10:00] Isaac Paredes. 

[00:10:00] Mark Corbett: Right. 

[00:10:01] Mat Germain: So they got PEs outta that deal and then they dealt Isaac Paredes after they got really two great seasons from him. They shipped him to the Cubs and now they have Christopher Morel, hunter Biggie, and then, and a prospect that I love, who I think again, is the center of the trade but isn't arrived yet.

[00:10:18] So all that to say that they have a group of players including two fifths of the rotation and another pitcher coming that's in AA right now that'll probably arrive, next year. And, and so, you know, for the next five, six years you could still see more of the, of that, of the fruits of that trade basically coming through the, for the Rays.

[00:10:38] And, and I feel bad for Austin Meadows that he's no longer in Major League baseball, but that trade kind of reflects the Ray's way of, of getting most value out of players, out of trades. And that's why you can't get mad when they make mistakes, because when they blow the doors off the things like this.

[00:10:54] You're like, yeah, it, it compensates for some of the lackluster trades that they may [00:11:00] make in other cases. 

[00:11:02] Mark Corbett: As a fan from Tampa, I always wanna see local boys cover you and I have talked about this, before. I, I'd love to see Pete Alonso here. I'd love to see Caglione here. I'd love to see Kyle Tucker.

[00:11:12] You know, actually all three of those guys I believe went to plant high school. I think they all went to same high school, man. Really? I to double, I know that Tucker and Alonso did it. I've gotta double check on Caglione, but yeah. Yeah. So the idea of having local boys on the team is something, I know that's not gonna happen, but it's, if I had a little fiction in my head of what the Rays would, would look like, I always like to see, uh, local guys on the team.

[00:11:38] And, you know, we've, we've had some in the past, but, uh, I guess the closest, the most insane one was Brett Phillips. We had as far as local, but, we'll, we'll come back to the reality of what's going on. That's, that's just something I'm always, you know, thinking about down then. Wouldn't it be neat to see.

[00:11:55] Mat Germain: Right. So I put up today, just recently on, uh, [00:12:00] blue Sky that, you know, Josh Lowe has really underperformed, uh, it's his age, 27 year. 

[00:12:06] Yeah. 

[00:12:06] Mat Germain: He's, uh, he's supposed to be at his elite status. He keeps getting hurt in spring training and then having to take a month off to start the season. His, his training regimen, I don't know what it is with the o his obliques, but something is not right in the way that he trains.

[00:12:21] And, and you know, the, that that's the last two years, the year before that he looked outstanding. So I don't know what it is that he changed that, that ended up, you know, leading to that. Uh, I wish he could get back to that 2023, uh, performance level. Yeah. Uh, because he's a 2030 player. In that case. In that case, you're leaving him alone.

[00:12:40] You're like, we'll ride this out because this is awesome. This is what we want. So when that happens, you're like, okay, well, let's say they did move on from Josh Lowe. Is Kyle Tucker, the target, this off season when he becomes a free agent. Now this assumes that the Cubs and him don't come to an agreement and um, and [00:13:00] you know, this year he's not, he hasn't been yet as elite as he was with the Astros.

[00:13:05] But he's still well above average. And when you're looking at the roster makeup of the Rays, even all the way through the system, if you were able to put an all star caliber right fielder on the roster starting in 2026, I would argue they would be the favorites in the American League to start like right away.

[00:13:25] Just because the strengths of their prospect system and how they can fill the other, uh, positions on the field is, is outstanding. So the, the core then would become Tucker Caminero, Aranda. And, and so when you're putting those three in the middle of your lineup, you're really producing. And then Chandler Simpson at the top just being electric.

[00:13:46] I mean, come on. That's just setting the table for everybody else behind them. So whatever you have beyond that is just gravy, you know, uh, on the train and you're, you're, you're set to make a, a big impact, assuming everybody stays healthy, [00:14:00] yada yada, yada. And then you can concentrate on pitching, which to Rays, do a great job with.

[00:14:05] , So I really like the thought of the addition, even though the money would be significant, everybody says the barrier is the money, right? That I get it. It's a lot of coin to pay, especially when you're, you're set to play in a, in a minor league park. But Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers showed the Rays and the new owners how to get that done.

[00:14:27] If they back load the contract, if they add beyond the extent of the contract, yada, yada, yada, and continue to pay 'em for years and years and years, they can get it done. And so it. , Leave it to the Dodgers to give small franchises a loophole so that when they're building a stadium, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, until that stadium is built, they're able to keep the cost down.

[00:14:50] And then once the stadium is built and they have the crowds to show for it, they're able to load up and just pay him what he wants. So I can see it happen, mark. And quite honestly, [00:15:00] if it's not Kyle Tucker, if it's somebody else or another, right, right. Fielder, that's the position that I want them to fill long term.

[00:15:07] Because if they're able to figure that out, there are, like, the ceiling is very high with this team, with the core that they have. 

[00:15:15] Mark Corbett: Well, it's interesting 'cause you make me think of, uh, Bobby Bonilla, you know, a guy who basically had set aside a, a contract that where he would be paid not at infinitum, but for many years into the future.

[00:15:27] , Who was the, the Orioles weren't the primary team that he had the agreement with, but he had been with them. And I think there, there's only a year or two left of some amount of money that they have to pay. But his primary team, I think, still has to pay him for like another five years or so.

[00:15:41] Mat Germain: And that, and that's Steve Phillips who, who lays claim to setting, setting up the Shohei Ohtani contract by doing that one. 

[00:15:49] Mark Corbett: Hey, you know, it makes, it, makes sense and geez, man, knees, I don't know what we're gonna wind up doing. It'll be really curious to see the, the new guy. Uh, I like to see it done. It's like so many things you hear [00:16:00] rumors, rumors, rumors, and uh, it's been a shell game sometimes with the ray, whether it be owners or stadium, uh, what's actually happening.

[00:16:08] So we'll see what's underneath cup number two. 

[00:16:10] Mat Germain: What's most interesting about this one is that it came from Ken Rosenthal, right? Mm-hmm. It didn't come from some of those reporters that are like, whoa, such team has shown interest in like, those are the things that are like fingernails on the chalkboard mark.

[00:16:25] I hate those comments 'cause they're just click grabbers. They don't have any inside information on this. They're just throwing stuff at the wall and deciding that it might be news. Um, but you know, the, it's fine. Like as long as people are enjoying their process and they're, they're, you know, it's fun to speculate.

[00:16:45] I do it all the time. I'll put a roster or a lineup together and I'll say, Hey, how would that look like this? And that's part of the fun of being a baseball fan. The same as when you start the season. Everybody is zero and zero and they're all even, and they're able to kind of dream [00:17:00] and hope on a couple of things.

[00:17:02] So, but, so when you look at the ray and, and let, let's say the right field is their number one priority at the trade deadline. I think the second one that I wanted them to address is to kind of say, okay, are we ready to bring in Carson Williams? And if so, what does that do to our infield? Because what's happening right now with Brendan Lowe's injury and, and questions up in the air about how long it'll linger, if it'll keep popping up again, plantar fasciitis is a serious injury.

[00:17:32] Uh, long ago, dealt with it. PO Hos dealt with it, and it basically ended their careers because it's not something you can easily tolerate, right? So I see Brendan Lowe anyway as a DH option, more or less, less on the field. And they have other options for second base, which is fine. But if you're gonna put Taylor Walls in as a mainstay, second baseman, you know, it, it SAPs away so much of your offensive ability to change the game.

[00:17:58] You know, at the moment's notice [00:18:00] that I'm like, okay, well can we do better again? Can we do better? So if you shifted Ha-Seong Kim from shortstop to second base and put Carson Williams in mm-hmm. Suddenly you get that power back that Brandon Lowe is, is missing. Right. Um, and you're adding speed that he doesn't have either because, um, Carson Williams is the kind of player that could be a 30 30 player in, in major League baseball down the road.

[00:18:27] I'm not saying he's gonna start off like that, but he has power. He has speed. The hit tool is improving. He's got a thousand OPS over the last, the last two months. So he's been hitting the ball very well the last two months. So theoretically the Rays could do the same thing they did with Josh Lowe, which is, okay, now you're hot in tri in aaa.

[00:18:47] You've done it for a while. Let's see what you can do. And so if they decided to do that, you know, it makes, let's say they did want to do a trade with the Pirates, it's Taylor Walls, somebody that they would be interested [00:19:00] in because they can put him at shortstop and improve all of their pitching, which they seriously need.

[00:19:06] Uh, they need any help that they can get in order to get the most out of their pitchers. So Paul Skees would love to have tail walls at shortstop. Mitch Keller would love to have him. You know, he's, I get that tail walls for the Rays is a little bit lackluster 'cause they're in the ales and they need to demand certain things from every single guy in their lineup.

[00:19:24] And to be fair, Taylor Wal has come up clutch in some instances. Right? I'm not saying he's a zero at all. I'm just saying that if you'd have a 30, 30 guy in AAA that's a elite makeup, uh, he's gonna be the captain. Road. I believe he's just that kind of of core player that you want next to junior ca for years, then that might be the right time to call to bring, you know, bring him up and, and move Taylor Walls, give him the space, put him next to Hassam Kim who can show him the ropes while he is with the Rays and teach him a lot of things right.

[00:19:59] [00:20:00] And, and then he can move on, uh, to other position and needs. So in that case, you would have, you know, a lineup that I think is, is pretty fun to watch, right? The between Chandler Simpson, Jake Mangum, the way he plays the game, and Carson Williams, the youth of that team. And then the excitement and the speed factor would just be, you know, speed doesn't slump mark.

[00:20:23] That's the, the famous line from John Gibbons. 

[00:20:26] Mark Corbett: I love it. I love it man. All righty. You know, I, I wanted to ask you something else too. You were talking about a pitcher pitcher recently. I think you were talking about one of the new fellas we got. And Al not surprisingly, they all seem to be a little tall.

[00:20:41] You know, we look back at Glasnow. I'm Snell, you know, we look at Kyle Snyder and he was a couple of, you know, I, one I always think of first is not a ray, but of course is Randy Johnson. I was, see, I think he was six 10. Let me see, I think I actually have it up here. 'cause I was, I was curious looking [00:21:00] across there and see who was the other fellow we had a couple years ago.

[00:21:02] Sliders, I think he was a pretty right, pretty tough. Yeah. Now, I mean, there's a couple things. By having a tall pitcher, you have further point for before they, they release the ball, they're, they're able to throw, uh, take a longer extension, if you will, before and shorten the distance between their fingertips into where it pro crosses home plate.

[00:21:23] , And then I think if you look somewhat too, that a taller pitcher can usually have a little more control of the ball to have it go down than somebody else. And do you see that as just part of Kyle's Cash's strategy with pitchers or 

[00:21:37] Mat Germain: it, it's honestly starting to leak into the entire team.

[00:21:40] So out of their draft, nobody was under six foot out of the 22 picks. Right. Not one player under six foot. So, sorry guys. If you're not six feet tall, you will not be drafted by the Rays, apparently. 

[00:21:55] Mark Corbett: Well, well what's it gonna feel like if you're, you know, you're walls or if you're low, uh, low [00:22:00] rather sitting on the bench man and you're, you got all these other guys, you're sitting next to their shoulder, your head's right next to their shoulder.

[00:22:06] It's gonna be weird. 

[00:22:07] Mat Germain: So, and, and not only that, but only, um, five of the players were under six two. Geez. Out of the entire draft. So, I mean, it, it leads to a lot of question marks. Like even the catchers that they selected were six foot five. Huh? Both of them. 

[00:22:25] Mark Corbett: I didn't realize that. My gosh. 

[00:22:26] Mat Germain: When is the last time you saw a six foot five catcher?

[00:22:29] I mean, Mike Piazzo is six four, I think. Um, maybe Salvatore Perez is, might be, you know, somewhere around there. But, so if you're looking at catchers moving forward as, as blockers basically, then does that make sense? You know, if they have a rocket of an arm they can throw from their knees. Yep. Why not?

[00:22:51] Like, that's right. Got a little 

[00:22:53] Mark Corbett: more coverage. 

[00:22:53] Mat Germain: You know, maybe the Rays are breaking the mold on that and saying, you know what? You're gonna bring a BS in, then we're gonna go with [00:23:00] big catchers and get more pop in the lineup. But, uh, yeah, the, the size thing is, is hilarious because you see it like, Austin Vernon is six eight, Paul Gervase is six 10.

[00:23:12] Uh, there's a whole bunch of guys down in AAA that are six six, like Alex Faedo a a local guy you were mentioning local guys. Yep. So he's a local guy that they brought in who's six six. He's still rehabbing, but uh, you know, they, they do like the size and they know how to work with it to get some consistency.

[00:23:28] That's the biggest, a lot of moving parts, a lot of, you know, shifting weight. So, um, it, it's just, you know, it's hard for them to stay as coordinated as shorter players that don't have as much lag between the push and the landing. Yep. Yep. That's basically how it, how it ends up working out. Geez. 

[00:23:48] Mark Corbett: Well, you know, you look at Chandler Simpson, I don't know his height, but he doesn't look like he's a, a giant by any stretch of imagination, but it doesn't seem to impact his speed between the bases.[00:24:00] 

[00:24:00] And like was saying a little bit about that earlier, just looking at to see, uh, looking at the math and to Rays historically a number of stolen bases. Carl Crawford holds the, of all the years, the Rays, he holds seven years of the most stolen bases from as, uh, show few as 46, but as main many as 60. And if we look this year alone, what's happening with it, we're gonna see, I think, um, who's Caballero, who I love, by the way, you know, he's got 32 stolen bases as of yesterday, and I know as of today.

[00:24:36] Chandler's got 31 as of today. Uh, I was doing some math 'cause I was really curious to see stolen bases. 'cause it's just, to me, it's an exciting part of the game and it really upsets the, I believe the, the, uh, defense from being able to figure out what the heck they're doing out there. And let's see what we have here.

[00:24:54] Hang on just a sec. All right. 102 games a season. Still base is, like I said, [00:25:00] still part of the excitement. We only got 60 games left and we're seeing Simpson stealing, like I said, up to doing the math here. Hang on. He's played 58 games a season as of the other day with average of 30. He's got 30 stolen bases and see with 52, okay, 30 stolen bases over 58 games gives him 52% of the games with stolen base.

[00:25:27] And with 60 games remaining at 52%, that would be an additional 31 total games or 31 stolen bases. So a total of 61 stolen bases, which would put him over, um, pardon me, Carl Crawford 60. So that, that could be very interesting. He could be breaking the franchise record this year on stolen bases. 

[00:25:48] Mat Germain: Yeah, and to be honest, I think he'll be the next, uh, a hundred stolen base player in Major League baseball.

[00:25:54] I have no doubt in my mind he can get to 1 10, 1 20 if he wanted to. , Right now [00:26:00] he's, he's just, he's changing the way that pitchers pitch to the Rays, and I, I said this when I, I ranked him second the preseason in terms of the Rays prospects. He is electric. He's a game changer. He's somebody that, um, is driven to be his own person.

[00:26:17] He knows exactly who he is. And he's going to give you a hundred percent, a hundred percent of the time. And, and honestly, that's a blessing. Uh, the Rays have youth that are setting that tone and you can feel it on the field. And even though they're not always successful and they have lapses like everybody else, um, what you're talking about in terms of speed, like, just to give you an example, they're, they have more home runs this year than the Braves and the Phillies, right?

[00:26:45] So they have 112 home runs that Braves and Phillies have 110 each. The Rays not only have that, but they lead ml MLB with 133 stolen bases. Now you say, okay, 133 stolen bases. What does that mean? [00:27:00] Well, only 10 teams in 2023, uh, stole more than 130 bases. And then in, uh, 2024, it wasn't much better. It was 11 teams that stole more than 130 stolen bases.

[00:27:13] So when you're looking at it from that point of view and you realize that there's two and a half months left to the season. You know, that leaves them a heck of a long time to, to try to push the, the needle and see where they can get. So when we look at 2024, for instance, uh, we end up with the, uh, the leading team in stolen bases was the, uh, Washington Nationals who had 223.

[00:27:39] So the Rays right now are 90 stolen bases away from that. Are they gonna surpass that? I I would not put it past them. I think they could get to two 30 or above, uh, based on what we know they have and also what they, we know that they have coming, like Carson Williams, some other players. And like you mentioned, Jose [00:28:00] Caballero also has, , ticked up his, his efforts in terms of stolen bases.

[00:28:04] And a year prior to that, in 2023. I don't recall if, if the bases had been changed at that point. I don't think they did. But the, the reds had the most stolen bases at 190. So the Rays are like, uh, 57 stolen bases away from that total right now. So they're gonna surpass that, no doubt about it. So in terms of speed, the Rays are really showing MLB basically, that they've, they saw the, the increase in the sizes of the, of the bases.

[00:28:36] They saw the limited, um, uh, throws to first base. And they said, you know what? We're buying it. We're, we're saying this is how we're gonna score more runs than we quote unquote are supposed to, and we're gonna invest heavily in those kinds of players. Um, so it's not surprising that somebody like Jake Mangum became a big part of their plans and, and they decided to kind of.

[00:28:59] Go that [00:29:00] route and give him all the leeway that, that he could handle, even when he had an injury after the beginning of the season and ended up having to take some time away. When he came back, they still left the door open for him because he's the type of player that they wanna invest him. So when you're looking at the Rays roster makeup, you know, moving forward, anybody that has some form of speed is gonna be somebody that they like.

[00:29:23] So at first base, this is why I've been pushing a lot of Tre' Morgan. Uh, Yandy Diaz is great. I love him. He's a beast. Uh, he doesn't hit like a, as many home runs as his power should have, but he is somebody that the, you know, opposing pitchers hate to, to pitch against because he can foul off a hundred different pitches.

[00:29:46] So. Um, when you're looking at the difference between him and Tre' Morgan, I put a thing on Blue Sky, kind of comparing the two at their ages. And Tre' Morgan is very, very, very similar in terms of his approach [00:30:00] at the plate, his ability to cover the plate and to work at bats and in the same way as Y Diaz.

[00:30:06] But what he has that Yandy doesn't have is speed. He can steal 20 bases in a year. Um, he has that kind of mobility and that makes him a better defender at first base at the same time. So when we're looking at this trade deadline, if we were to ponder the Rays, selling on a few pieces and allowing some.

[00:30:24] Space for some of the young players. You know, Tre' Morgan is one of those guys that I could see the Ray, um, opening the door for. He's not quite as good in terms of contact ability as Chandler Simpson, but he's very close. Like if I take a look at, uh, his walk rates and, uh, strikeout rates, uh, Tre' Morgan has been at the, you know, among the leaders at every level that he's played.

[00:30:51] Um, I think that the worst that he's ever had in terms of, uh, a k rate is 18%, uh, for a full year. [00:31:00] And that was in aa. Uh, but that year his walk rate was 13%. So you're talking about a 5% difference between the two. Um, his swinging strike percentage is always low. I think this year, you know, it's, it's been a little bit higher, but he started the year a little bit hurt, so, uh, I'm not sure if it has a little bit to do with that.

[00:31:19] Um, we'll, we'll see. I, I just think that Tree Morgan has a lot to offer. And, uh, if the Rays do end up, uh, betting on themselves and their young players more than, than wanting to bring in outside talents because they think the prices are too high or whatever other reason they have. Then Tre' Morgan and Carson Williams are the two guys along with Dom Keegan, who I like a lot as a catcher, and I think could step in, in Mat Dice's role and just, you know, do very well.

[00:31:50] Uh, I just don't know that he's ready to be behind the plate as often as Mat would be otherwise. So that's my rant, mark. 

[00:31:57] Mark Corbett: No, I love it. I love it, brother. Thank [00:32:00] you. I'm just looking over a couple other things too. As far as our relievers, I always take a deep breath when they bring a reliever in. And you know, clevinger, I, I don't know, he's, some days he's on, some days he isn't.

[00:32:15] And Fairbanks, if he gets the grounders, you know, it's fine. But every now and then, one of his gets popped up and I, I get nervous now. Last night, Uceta, he looked fantastic. Mm-hmm. And I thought, man, I wish that was you every time you went out there and took the mound. 

[00:32:33] Yeah. 

[00:32:34] Mark Corbett: Now, who is your, in your I idea, uh, not gonna say the absolute closer, but in most cases, who would you want to have as the reliever?

[00:32:44] Mat Germain: So who are we facing? That's a good point. I'll, I'll give you an example. Like when the fa when, when the Rays faced the Red Sox, I always contend that they have the wrong game plan. They always seem to have a hard time closing games out. Like for [00:33:00] some reason, um. The Red Sox always seem to get to the relievers.

[00:33:05] I'm not saying that they score and win every game, but they, they give 'em a hard time at a very minimum. So I do think the Rays now that Manuel Rodriguez seems to be headed out for the year, he seems to be, you know, going down that road, they have two options really in terms of, of getting that swing and Ms.

[00:33:22] Guy in the playoffs. They can, they have one on the 40 man right now in Yoniel Curet so they can let him simmer, bring him in in September. And sort of like Shane MCC McClannahan, let him, you know, have his first taste in MLB, uh, when he gets to the show sometime in September and then in the playoffs, or. The twins really are going to sell, go and get John Duran.

[00:33:44] So that's one guy that I could see, and we saw him, you know, recently in, in one of the series that is more swing and miss, um, than Pete Fairbanks and just more consistent, right? I don't know how the two could coexist. I don't know [00:34:00] how each would feel about that. You know, it happens sometimes. Some guys just don't wanna be play second fiddle and they wanna be the guy.

[00:34:08] I think Josh Hader was one of the guys that kind of had that happen, right? And, or was it Devin Williams? I can't remember which one. But anyways, the, uh, the point is that both of those are, sorry, that guy John Duran is, is, is. I think he'll be, become available. It'll be a little bit steeper 'cause he has more years of control.

[00:34:27] Um, but the Rays acquired the, or sorry, acquired, they traded Jason, Adam, um, you know, and for Steve Price, to be quite honest, to, to the Padres. So that's probably similar to what they would have to pay for Joe Duran with a little bit extra on top of that. So, um, yeah, that's what I would say about the pen.

[00:34:47] And you're right, it's going to be up and down. There's gonna be holes. There's, but there's also some guys coming up Mark like that are going to change the thing. Like, uh, we've mentioned before Shane McClannahan, if he comes back in September, [00:35:00] what does that do? Uh, Nate Lavender is a guy that they got from the Mets.

[00:35:04] He's supposed to be on his way back at some point. We don't know exactly when. Um, there's a lot of starters in AAA that we could point to and say, you know what, those guys would be great in relief. So, do you wanna bank on that? Um, I just think that Baker was probably the move that they saw, um, as the anchor of war, how they were gonna improve their pen options.

[00:35:28] Um, I haven't watched yet, uh, Eric Wars play in, um, in Durham. I keep missing 'em whenever I jump between games. Uh, so I wanna see whether or not they're changing anything with him because he's also somebody that seemed to be really on the ball and then just lost it a little bit. So, uh, I want to know if he can make a return, kinda like you said it, like you were pointing out, uh, and, and find his form.

[00:35:52] Because if they have Orus refined his form, they have Uceta up Baker f you know, figures it out and becomes that really strong, [00:36:00] then it's okay that Pete has on and off because you have those options to kind of back him up. Right. And that's really what you want is the backup options to be really solid.

[00:36:10] Mark Corbett: Well, that's the key. 'cause there's so many times I feel like, again, who's gonna be the reliever? And, and as you pointed out, it really depends on who you're facing that night. And Boston really has kind of figured out some of our guys, uh, there's no doubt, you know, they must be y'all looking over the iPads with certain instructions.

[00:36:27] Oh, this is what he's done over the last three weeks. Yeah. I don't know. But it's, it's always a part of the game that makes it interesting. 'cause you see your starting pitcher take that game and it's looking so fantastic. And your team's done well. You know, they haven't killed it with all, all the, uh, points of putting up on the board, all the runs they've done all right.

[00:36:48] But then sometimes a reliever comes in and puts up four runs in the next inning or more. I mean. Look at what happened. Well, I'm not gonna, you all can look at your own records on this. [00:37:00] Some of it's just too painful to recount and, but it's, it's, uh, it's been a concern, or at least sometimes you could say it makes the game more interesting for me, Mat.

[00:37:10] It's, uh, we, I, I joke about all the time about baseball being the game, a game of deception. You know, it, it's about the pitcher trying to get the batter to think the ball is going to a certain place. You know, whether or not, um, a man on first is trying to deceive the, the pitcher to throw over there, whether he's actually gonna run or not.

[00:37:30] There's all these different pieces of the game, you know, trying to figure that out. , Even fake signals, , a catcher patting the glove down by the plate and some innocuous means nothing maybe, but all these little components, to me, they're, they're part of the magic of the game and, uh, wow. 

[00:37:48] Mat Germain: Uh, like just tonight is a good example.

[00:37:51] Taj Bradley only lasted 1.2 innings, uh, threw 55 pitches in those two, 1.2 innings. And I think I've spoken to you about this [00:38:00] before, mark, where the, the Rays starters are burnt out. They're, they just are like, they've been, we, we, we bragged about, or we pRays Kevin Cash for letting 'em go longer in the games, right?

[00:38:12] Because they, they quote unquote demanded it, well, this is what happens, because they didn't have the, the, the innings pitch the years prior to strengthen them to get to that point. And they're throwing, quite honestly, they're just throwing so much velocity that to expect them to be scot-free all the way through the season just isn't pLowesible anymore.

[00:38:33] I think every team sees that with all their pitchers. That's why the eras are higher, the whips are higher, generally, yada, yada, yada. Because you're getting back to that point of. Of, uh, pitchers needing a breath, right? So that they can actually catch their wind. We're in the dog days of summer now. So, um, you know, it, it's one of those things that we're gonna live through.

[00:38:53] But interestingly, they brought in, you know, Mason Englert after he left, and now they have Joe [00:39:00] Boyle in there. So another pen piece that we're talking about, like they're using him out of the pen right now out of necessity. Uh, he's a long man really out of the pencil. We'll see how many innings he goes tonight, but, um, they have him and Ian Seymour as options to do to take on those roles, and it's a luxury that a lot of teams would love to have.

[00:39:20] You know, that, that kind of quality in the pen. So. I pitching, is that thing that the Rays will always figure out? They always will. It doesn't Mater if they take a solar panel salesman or, you know. Where is Lewis Head right now? Mark? I don't know what he's doing in life, but I wanna know, like, this is, this has eaten me up.

[00:39:39] I, where did his career lead him? I know last time I heard, I think he was with the Royals and then, uh, I don't know where he wound up, but yeah, the Rays, they, they just, they have the pitching figured out. And interestingly, I'll, I'll just add another point to this. Um, Shane Baz did fairly well [00:40:00] in his, in his latest outing and one of, or sorry, drew Rasmusson.

[00:40:04] And, and one of the things that he changed because there was some worries about his innings pitched right, right, right load on his arm. But he, he upt ticked his, his cutter use by 14%, uh, based on average, or 14 15%. So. It, it reduced, its forcing use to like 22%, which is way lower than it normally is on average.

[00:40:26] So I think that's going to have to be the plan with a lot of these guys. They're going to have to rely more on the secondaries, find a pitch that they can lean on within those secondary dairies and, and reduce the load on their arms just by using more of the secondaries, um, without overthrowing those like sliders, et cetera.

[00:40:46] Right. Um, so it's a tedious kind of process, but it'll make them better in the playoffs. 'cause they'll learn, they'll learn to trust those pitches more. And then in the playoffs, if they want to turn everything back on, then they have that [00:41:00] option. 

[00:41:01] Mark Corbett: Well, you and I have talked before about certain pitchers who have had to modify as they've gotten older.

[00:41:07] Uh, I mean it's, you see this great talent and suddenly you see, uh, the next time they come up after, uh, uh. The next season and they've got two more pitches. They've got two pitches they didn't have before. And you're thinking, my gosh, where'd it come from? These people learn, these pitchers learn the for longevity.

[00:41:29] They cannot stay necessarily with the same powerful fastball. They all, all the time, and they can be more effective, you know, and getting what a probably a higher whiff rate too with, with, uh, a var, more variety of pitches. Uh, it's less likely that, uh, a batter's going to know what's coming next. If you only, if you only got two or three pitches, think they got a good idea.

[00:41:48] But if you've got five or six or something and maybe a ghost finger on top of that, who knows what's coming at you. 

[00:41:55] Mat Germain: If you show me a pitcher that says he has it all figured out and he is good to go from now on, he doesn't [00:42:00] have to change anything. I'll show you a guy that's gonna be out of baseball within a year.

[00:42:03] That's basically the way it works, right? You've gotta change things up. You gotta be a little bit unpredictable. Deception plays, you know, a role in everything. That's why I never understood some of the guys that lean on a pitch 50% of the time, because 50% of the time the hitter's gonna guess. Right? So it doesn't make any sense to, you know, to do it that way.

[00:42:25] I think we need like, like the Rays was showing us here, going a little bit old school. We need to go a little bit old school on pitching as well. You're watching it with the Blue Jays, right? Uh, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, all those guys. They have a basket full of pitches to choose from and the deception is what's keeping them alive as the velocity.

[00:42:43] You know, lessons Tyler Glasnow would be such a better pitcher with if he didn't have to lean so much on the fastball. And it's crazy to say because he is dominant when he has the fastball, but if he had a better ability to throw a variety of [00:43:00] pitches and be able to command those decently, um, he'd terrorize people.

[00:43:04] Like people would barely ever get much, you know, off him at all. I, I know he has a hand issue or a finger issue that stops him from gripping certain things. So I'll throw that out as a caveat, but he's just an example that I'm using as a, you know, what the potential could be for a lot of these pitchers.

[00:43:22] So I think the Rays, from what I can tell in, in the minors are doing that they're teaching, you know, pitchers or allowing them to lean more heavily on secondaries a lot earlier than we used to see. There's not so many guys that are just fastball heavy at Yeah. In ea level anymore. They're throwing change up, they're throwing, curves, they're throwing sliders , and leaning on those, , quite a bit for young guys.

[00:43:48] So, um, it, it's good to see in a way, and you would hope that it, it lessens the load on their arms and it keeps 'em healthy long term. 

[00:43:57] Mark Corbett: I love seeing them be able to keep their arms healthy longer. [00:44:00] And that reminds me, here's one you probably know this pitcher, he's 45 years of age. You already know who I'm going.

[00:44:10] Go ahead. No, you do it. No. All right. 45 years of age was a Rays pitcher, and I heard him ask this on a quiz of the day, he said, and he's been now with 14 teams, 14 freaking teams. Geez. If he goes in the hall of fame, what, what, what kind of, what kind of cap is he gonna wear? 

[00:44:29] Mat Germain: . Randy Quaid doesn't make a movie about Rich Hill.

[00:44:32] I don't, we're missing the boat somewhere, because that is just another baseball movie in the making. Uh, the love he has for the game. The ability to stay, you know, effective to such a late age. And that loopy curve is just, you know, keeping, keeping him alive. And, uh, I, I love it. I think it's an example to all the players.

[00:44:54] Bartolo Colón was the other guy that was in that same mold, like, just loves the game. Can figure it out. [00:45:00] Wiley. You want him on the bench, he should be a pitching coach at some point and, and would be a great addition to any pitching coach, , job in MLB. So, um, yeah, I love to see it. I hope the Royals benefit from it.

[00:45:13] I know all their young pitchers will benefit from having him, you know, to bounce things off of. And, uh, like Charlie Morton, I think there's some of the gems of the game that you, you just gravitate to when it comes to certain things. And for pitching. Yeah. Those older guys that stick around that long, it's because their heart and soul has been bled on the field.

[00:45:32] Mark Corbett: Absolutely. I mean, their love of the game continues. 'cause somebody's asked me, well, why is he still in it? I, because he loves it. That's, there's no other reason a person would do that to their body at that age. But the thing of it is, it's just fantastic. Yes, I would love to see them migrate into a coach, but I said before, why some of these guys with, with our team, whether it be Charlie or Rich Hill, or.

[00:45:53] It is one of the best things for the rest of the players on that bench to see somebody, a veteran like that and go up [00:46:00] and pick his brain or, or learn something new that they didn't know before. Or maybe a, a voice of encouragement from a veteran that can help Rays them up. So I, I've always been happy when I've seen a veteran on the team like that, whether it be a pitcher or even a, a regular player on the field.

[00:46:16] But it's just, uh, Charlie and, and Rich, like the, they're both fantastic. 

[00:46:22] Mat Germain: One of the most amazing statistics for, for real. Right. And, and I know that he played for some decent teams like Los Angeles, Boston, et cetera. Um. But he has, um, 90 wins, right? So he's, I, I know I don't put much weight in the winning thing, but he, he's about 10 wins away from, from a hundred.

[00:46:42] I would love to see him get a hundred. Uh, I don't know if he gets there or not. Uh, probably not, unless he does a whole other year. But, but he, he has over 1400 innings pitched, and in those 1400 innings, he's kept a [00:47:00] 1.260 whip, which, which to me is impressive because that just basically says, you know what, like the, the steadiness you need to have year after year after year in order to maintain that kind of level.

[00:47:13] , And a four ERA clean across the board. And that's what we saw when he was with the Rays. I don't know if you remember, but if the Rayss were scoring more than four runs. They were winning as long as Rich Hill is on the Mount. If they weren't scoring four runs, man, it was up and down. It depended.

[00:47:29] Right. But, uh, he's just that kind of player that, that, you know, steady as he went. He was dominant when he was with the Dodgers. He had some years where he was just the guy. Right. And, um, and I love him. I, I think he's great for the sport. 

[00:47:44] Mark Corbett: I was trying to remember all the teams he was with, and I could not remember if he had been with the Guardians or the Indians or, um, he was with 

[00:47:52] Mat Germain: the Cubs originally.

[00:47:53] I know that. I remember that. Like, that was one of the main ones. And, and Boston I remember clearly as well. [00:48:00] 

[00:48:00] Mark Corbett: Yeah. You know, uh, I played crazy training at the beginning of the show here, and I bring that up because of, uh, some of the insanity going on this year. Uh, I love watching Manfred go to the White House and be there with the, with the president and saying, oh, you, you need, you need to put Pete Rose.

[00:48:20] You need to go ahead and. Unblock him and put him into the Hall of Fame. And I said, okay, I'm tired of politicians getting involved with baseball. And then, but he couldn't stop himself, brother. He could not, you know, it's just recently, you know, he's brought up this whole thing about, uh, changing the name back from the Washington, uh, what is it?

[00:48:40] The commanders to the Redskins and. Alls I can think is maybe he doesn't like another commander in chief being somewhere, so he's gonna change the name back. But the, the whole idea of it is just, you know, disgusting to me that he's gonna feel like he could come in and push this. I look at what he's done with, [00:49:00] um, some of the military facilities we have across the country, some that had previously been named, um, honoring Confederate Generals who fought against United States.

[00:49:13] And, you know, we, we change the names of those forts and, uh, military installations and now he wants to change 'em back. So, but what he does, if it's like Fort Bragg, he'll, he'll find some other person with the name of Bragg. To attach to it. And it's, it's, uh, amazing to me that he thinks we're all that much idiots about the whole thing, what he's doing.

[00:49:34] So I, I can only wonder though, Mat, you know, if he wants to change the name and the guardians back to the Indians, maybe he'll come up with something like, oh no, I'm, I'm talking about the other Indians, you know, the ones across the water and the other ocean. Yeah, yeah. You know. Oh man, my, my, my uncle Tim, I think he, uh, he, I think he taught an Indian, what's the guy's name?

[00:49:52] Mahatma Ghandi. Yeah. He was, uh, you know, he's a smart guy, but hey, 

[00:49:56] Mat Germain: It starts, it starts to blur a lot of lines. And here's where my head goes, [00:50:00] because I, I predicted this, remember when we were talking about Jackie Robinson and everything else? Yeah. We joked that this would happen. 

[00:50:06] Yeah. 

[00:50:07] Mat Germain: So the, where it could lead right.

[00:50:10] Is what my mind goes to all the time. Okay. So now let's say he's successful because he's holding the stadium co, uh, build in Washington. Over to our heads, he's saying, you know, you're not gonna get any funding if you don't change your name to the red skin. If you're the owner of the Red of the Commanders, what choices do you have?

[00:50:30] Like you, you really don't, you're sort of like stuck in that, that Harvard versus Columbia, you know, system of do you accept or do you not? So let's say he's successful, right? So the razor about the build a new stadium, right? What, what stops Trump from saying, I don't want to see any more Latin American players on your team.

[00:50:52] If you want funding at all for, and approvals and everything else for your stadium. And then DeSantis plays ball with it too. He does [00:51:00] the same thing. Uh, what, what happens if he gets involved in all kinds of aspects of the game? Like it's just once you open Pandora's box and you actually start allowing these things to go by, there's just no stopping it.

[00:51:15] That's why I hate to see countries come up to deals with Trump on because he put up tariffs. I'm like, you know what? Just let people pay the cost. Let them get angry and kick him out. That is the solution not giving into his demands. That's just feeding the beast. So do you remember, uh, you know, get a map out right now?

[00:51:35] Can you point out West Germany? 

[00:51:39] Mark Corbett: West Germany? 

[00:51:40] Mat Germain: Right. Does it exist? 

[00:51:43] Mark Corbett: Uh, no. No. Right. No. So once upon a time. 

[00:51:48] Mat Germain: Germany. Exactly. You know, they, things change, things change names, they change all the time. I could point out a map when I went in the military to, uh, the Adriatic Sea, [00:52:00] and we were off the coast of an area called Iceman, and, and we were, you know, getting overflown by fighter jets and everything else because the war in Yugoslavia was going on.

[00:52:08] Yugoslavia doesn't exist anymore. So, you know, like there, things change all the time. Names change and, and the, the thing that I hope for and dream about Mark is that my kids, your kids, everybody else's grandkids, et cetera, can learn all the mistakes that are being made right now. Why the bigotry is so horrid and needs to go away permanently.

[00:52:34] Yeah, yeah. Like this movement, this thing that is happening needs to be a lesson. That's basically where things stand. 

[00:52:42] Mark Corbett: Well, it has, has gotten to the ugliest part than I ever could conceive of. I mean, you know, months ago I was doing little bits at the beginning of the show and I quit doing 'em because it seemed like they were coming real.

[00:52:52] I thought they were, they were insane. You know, I did one about uh uh, the All American team being nothing but all Americans on that [00:53:00] for the President Trump, you know, and that was a bit, and what you're saying scares me. Plus the MLB has told her players who come from other countries to make sure they carry papers with them all of the time now, especially when they're traveling from one place to another and.

[00:53:18] It's uncertain. I mean, we had Craig Calera on here and we had to take a break in the middle of, uh, the conversation. And while we were there, I said some things about, like, some of the ugliness that could possibly be happening. But he and I both agreed not to actually put that ugliness out on the show.

[00:53:36] 'cause I said, I don't wanna put that out in the universe. Who knows what comes back and didn't have to, it's here now and it's, uh, it's scary. It's, it's touched. Let me just say a couple more things. 

[00:53:47] Yeah. 

[00:53:48] Mark Corbett: This guy. This nut, what he's done. I think sometimes I think he's like a spoiled child who got hurt because, you know, he wanted to own a baseball team.

[00:53:58] He wanted to own the [00:54:00] Cleveland Indians. They said no, you know, we're looking back at, on those late seventies, early eighties, something along those lines. And he just, they said no to him. You don't think that this man has a list of everybody who's ever offended him? I guarantee you that that's part of what's going on with baseball now.

[00:54:19] Plus the other part of this is we know that it's just a distraction. We talk about the game of baseball being deception and distraction. Well, politics multiply by 200 at least right now. And that's the case because talking about, alright, we're talking about going ahead and the Indians and the Redskins and yes, those are things that draw our attention and we should say something about, but then all this stuff about, uh, the house speakers taking the, uh, closing up a couple of days early so they don't have to deal anything with the Epstein files.

[00:54:52] Oh, and while we're there, let's go ahead and put out all the MLK files. We're going to flood you with all these other things as a distraction. Mat, I'm still waiting for [00:55:00] area 21 files to come out. Dammit. Come on. If we're gonna be going out and distract me, gimme something crazy. Oh. But anyway, that's my rant.

[00:55:10] Mat Germain: The, the, the hope is that that Epstein file issue will take everything down, right? Yeah. That, that, that should be the line that never gets crossed. And it should have been before he became president. 'cause everybody knew the outcome of that file. Uh, the only ones that didn't are the ones that had their heads in the sand and decided not to listen and basically just became, quote unquote Nancy's and, and crazy maga, you know, oriented whenever the subject was brought up.

[00:55:39] So, you know what, I think, uh, there's a lot, like I said, a lot of lessons. The, the, the felon pedophile, you know, issue is definitely going to stay. I think, I think that is the one that they cannot sidestep. I think [00:56:00] that's the one that people will fund heavily. Um, and that will ultimately change a lot of things if those, if the midterms go ahead in a somewhat free and democratic manner.

[00:56:11] Right.

[00:56:15] Okay.

[00:56:21] No problem.[00:57:00] 

[00:57:50] Mark Corbett: Hydrate, hydrate. Hydrate. 

[00:57:51] Mat Germain: Yeah. I don't blame you. 

[00:57:53] Mark Corbett: Oh, I've got, this medicine makes me expel and I have, it's like, Ooh, I gotta run now. So [00:58:00] anyway, my apologies. 

[00:58:02] No worries. 

[00:58:03] Mark Corbett: Oh no. Well, we'll go ahead and wrap this up a little bit, but I, I think a couple things you're mentioning is learning from this time, and I don't care what party you are, just.

[00:58:15] Make common sense outta what's happening. You know, if there's something there and it needs to be addressed, let's address it. Let's play it. Quit, uh, playing the, the, uh, ball and cup game and trying to figure out where things are going on. You know, figure out the things that are important. Make sure we feed people.

[00:58:31] Make sure we treat people with respect. I don't give a damn which party you're with. Just love one another. Find a way to help one another. I don't care who's in office today, or who's tomorrow, or even I don't wanna point fingers to the past. Let's take positive action and make sure we show that to our children and make them see that it's not about living in silos, but about sharing with everybody, reaching across borders and reaching just even across to the neighbor next door.

[00:58:59] It's [00:59:00] difficult sometimes I get that, but it's important for us if we want to build a positive, fruitful future for our children. So I encourage all of you all to do that and, uh, take note. 

[00:59:15] Mat Germain: I think you, you can take hope in what happened in New York, right? With the mayor's race, or, sorry, the, there's really wealthy, well-funded people that are being beaten politically by people who are lacking funds, quite honestly, and, and probably should have more in order to fight the fight.

[00:59:33] So that is a huge statement. Hopefully there's more of that to come. 

[00:59:38] Mark Corbett: Amen. Amen. Well, Mat, I can't thank you enough and I got more of a rant than I wanted to. So we'll go out again with a tribute to Ozzy with a little bit more of the crazy train. 

[00:59:49] Mat Germain: He's an American, by the way, apparently somebody put that out there.

[00:59:52] Right? Andrew Yang. I think 

[00:59:54] Mark Corbett: it's that true. I love it. Well, you know, well you've got, if I'll tell you what folks, if you wanna see something funny, I'll put a link at the end of the show. [01:00:00] There is he and his wife. A Cubs game singing Take me out to the Ball game and I thought I did terrible. I think I would be right in line side by side with Ozzy about how good that can be done.

[01:00:16] Mat Germain: Him reading, uh, bedtime stories to his grandkids. Right. Oh gosh. 

[01:00:20] Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yep. Well, God loved him and the Osborne family, and thank you all for joining us this week at Baseball Biz on Deck. That's Mr. Mat Germain. I'm Mark Corbett, and we hope you have a wonderful week and Rays up to all of our fans out there.

[01:00:35] Thank you. Alright, Mat. Thanks bud. That was good. No problem at all. They're, 

[01:00:42] Mat Germain: they're tied four four right now and it's frustrating man.