Stu Stokes - County Votes - Where is Willy?

BaseballBiz On Deck

• Hurricane Brain in Tampa Bay
• Pinellas County Commission vote to not vote on Rays stadium bond
• Where does the county funds come from to build a new stadium
• Timeline of approval of Rays deal with both the City of St Pete & Pinellas county
• County Bed Tax – can only be used for tourism – cannot be used for renourishing the beaches
• Timelines & Delays are not helped by Stu’s antagonistic communications
• Commissioner Brian Scott – shows disappointment with Stu & Tampa Bay Times’ headlines “End of the stadium deal?
• Reflect Reds Castellini & White Sox Reinsdorf poor communications
• When Billionaires speak people listen
• Need Erik Neander to negotiate
• MLB teams as a tax haven
• Quebec govt putting on a $875 million roof for their stadium
• Other options for Rays – Montreal, Nashville &
• County Commissioners Brian Scott & Kathleen Peters – Rays stadium investment will be a generational & transformative action for the future
• “reeks of corporate selfishness” a commissioner’s remarks of Rays recent media tactic
• Is it Rays strategy to motivate commissioners to vote no & give Stu option to move Rays
• What if MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred, visited Tampa Bay and brokered a deal with Rays & Yankees at Steinbrenner Field, add 5,000 site
• Pinellas fields not suitable for the Rays to hold their 2025 season
• Blue Jays 2020 @ Sahlen field
• Jose Siri traded to New York Mets, for reliever Eric Orze
• Will Chandler Simpson a roster spot
• Could Dylan Carlson replace Siri
• Willie Adames – ex-Ray – declines Brewers qualifying offer
• Could Willy land with Dodgers or Tigers – what about Javy Baez
• Angels should release Francisco Lindor bring in Adames – Eeyore to Tigger move
• Bret Phillips now a pitcher and a future as a broadcaster
• BallySports - FanDuel – Diamond Team Broadcasting
• Utah Jazz - unique model, broadcasts local games live and is still profitable
• Perth Heat – Australian Baseball League – Tampa Bay Rays
• Eyes on Angel Mateo
• Post-season viewing & reading Beyond baseball:
• Mat: It’s not all about Batman – The Penguin & the Marvelous Miss Maisel
• Mark: Ila Borders book – Making my Pitch & watching Saint of Second Chances
• Roki Sasaki in the Rays future?
• What would Rays rotation look like with Sasaki
• How will stadium issues impact Free Agents attraction to the Tampa Bay Rays
• Reflect on Nate Eovaldi & Wilson Ramos signings as players who came to the Rays as they needed to rebuild their value
• Expect the Rays to be aggressive in possibly bringing on Danny Jansen or Kyle Higashioka – revenge on the Yankees
• Rays will show that they are ready to compete in 2025 if they keep Brandon Lowe, Yandy Diaz, Jeffrey Springs & Pete Fairbanks
• Ken Hagan on WDAE – talks about the City of Tampa’s early offer to keep the Rays

Thanks to Mat Germain for bringing his knowledge, wit and wisdom to the show. You can catch more of Mat on BlueSky @matgermain.bsky.social

Mark can be found on BlueSky at @baseballbizondeck.bsky.social & and at http://www.baseballbizondeck.com

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Special thanks to XTaKeRuX for the music “Rocking Forward