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Speaker 1: Yeah, the Sweet Life.

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Speaker 2: To start the show, FT Live at Race Camp, Scotty Brown, aircrafts,

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Speaker 2: Kevin Pillar and President Baseball Opps Eric Neander.

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Speaker 1: Eric.

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Speaker 2: Great to have you on. Thanks for joining us right

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Speaker 2: at the top for the headliner.

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Speaker 1: How you doing?

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Speaker 3: How about it?

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Speaker 4: Not my usual spot, Scott, Thanks for having me. Cratty,

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Speaker 4: good to see you. KP good to see you.

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Speaker 5: Good to see you too.

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Speaker 2: You're the main man today, all right, So first off,

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Speaker 2: tell me what's going on there. You've got camp, You've

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Speaker 2: got the World Baseball Classic going on. What's the first

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Speaker 2: few weeks like for you? And how is it different

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Speaker 2: from the past few years.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean good, good energy. We've had.

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Speaker 4: We've had some turnover with the roster, but we've also

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Speaker 4: got the you know, Cami on his way up Ronda

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Speaker 4: if they all start year. Last year, mcclanay and healthy back,

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Speaker 4: good vibes, good energy and you know WBC years had

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Speaker 4: a lot of fun too. So we got some guys

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Speaker 4: out there doing their thing. It's been fun to watch

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Speaker 4: them add some energy to the game. Brings a little

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Speaker 4: more excitement opening day and it's all good, good time

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Speaker 4: to be a fan of baseball.

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Speaker 5: Yeah.

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Speaker 6: On that topic, first spring training with the new ownership group.

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Speaker 6: How's that relationship been and do you expect to see

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Speaker 6: anything different from the Rays moving forward?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, hopefully a new stadium is different.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Here they've they've been great, they've been wonderful. You know,

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Speaker 4: been really fortunate. Schusternberg, our prior ownership group was great

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Speaker 4: to us, had a lot of success, but there's still

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Speaker 4: business to accomplish. We're still chasing that first championship. We're

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Speaker 4: trying to get our kind of our future security here locally,

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Speaker 4: new stadium, all that new ownership group. Patrick Zuluwski, Bill

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Speaker 4: cosgro Ken, Babby they're working tirelessly to try to get

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Speaker 4: that done. Looks like they're making some real progress and

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Speaker 4: hopefully we can get that secured and continue to build

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Speaker 4: from there.

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Speaker 3: But it's exciting for sure.

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Speaker 1: When the new ownership group came in, how much conversation

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Speaker 1: about winning a championship was on their side of the table.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I for us, and we've been here

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Speaker 4: a long time. You were here in nineteen We've we've

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Speaker 4: won a lot of games. We have been able to

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Speaker 4: take that last, that final step. That's what all this

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Speaker 4: is about, and to have reassurances from them. How important

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Speaker 4: that is to them? Is big right, getting a new stadium, development,

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Speaker 4: et cetera. That's a way to generate more revenue that

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Speaker 4: can be put back into the team. And we do

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Speaker 4: this because we want to win. We want to support

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Speaker 4: players that want to win. We want to play our

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Speaker 4: small part. And you know, these are people that are

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Speaker 4: coming in here, like I said, to try to take

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Speaker 4: this franchise to the next level.

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Speaker 3: We've had a lot of success, We've got more to.

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Speaker 4: Do and by all accounts everything they've said, their intentions

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Speaker 4: very much aligned with ours.

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Speaker 3: That that's a goal.

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Speaker 4: That championship is a goal that we all have and

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Speaker 4: we want to accomplish sooner rather than later.

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Speaker 1: Can you tell us how that would look different than

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty when you guys made it to a

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Speaker 1: World Series, Like, how would you go back now when

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Speaker 1: you guys are on the precipice, like truly there and say, Okay,

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Speaker 1: this is how we're going to win a championship, not

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Speaker 1: just be a winning team, because you guys have mastered

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Speaker 1: being a winning team. How would you change? Yeah, what's

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Speaker 1: the different step that you would take?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, Like, I think we spent a lot of time

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Speaker 4: thinking about that. I mean compared to twenty and just

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Speaker 4: playing those games at home and in front of a

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Speaker 4: packed home crowd would would be nice. But you know,

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Speaker 4: that was the bigger things going on at that point.

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Speaker 3: We made the most of it. I think, you know,

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Speaker 3: look this, the Dodgers just won.

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Speaker 4: A World Series with two fourths of their rotation being

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Speaker 4: guys that really establish themselves in the in the big

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Speaker 4: leagues here.

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Speaker 3: I think.

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Speaker 4: It just a chance for greater talent retention over time

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Speaker 4: is something you hope for, and not just for the talent,

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Speaker 4: but the experiences right when there's a constant churn. That's

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Speaker 4: something that's been a necessity to find ways to compete

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Speaker 4: and to solve for winning as many games as we can.

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Speaker 4: But continuity is important. That's never been lost on us.

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Speaker 4: We just don't always have the option to do everything

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Speaker 4: we want, but the continuity having guys grow up here,

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Speaker 4: having them have those experiences, getting those big stages, getting

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Speaker 4: comfortable with.

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Speaker 3: Them, and then breaking through.

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Speaker 4: You know that you just have more options, you know,

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Speaker 4: with more revenue, with more stadium, et cetera. So we're

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Speaker 4: learning and listening to a lot of people that have

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Speaker 4: actually accomplished it. We haven't, So we're hesitant to have

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Speaker 4: all the answers when it comes to that, but we're

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Speaker 4: continue to do our best and great players, great makeup

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Speaker 4: great culture, and somehow, some way try to get over

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Speaker 4: the top.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, speaking of your guys' success over the last decade,

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Speaker 6: felt like you guys were a team that was always

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Speaker 6: ahead of the curve in terms of trying to win

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Speaker 6: the margins and evaluate players and certain players that other

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Speaker 6: teams didn't value, and certain things teams didn't value.

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Speaker 5: Do you feel like that gap has closed a little bit?

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Speaker 6: Where do you feel like you guys are maybe years

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Speaker 6: ahead of where teams have just gotten to now?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean it's hard to say. I've this is

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Speaker 4: my twentieth year here. It's all I really know, right, So,

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Speaker 4: we've had players that have been here that have played

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Speaker 4: other places. You know, don't spend a ton of time

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Speaker 4: sizing up kind of where we are. We just know

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Speaker 4: we've got to get better. You know, when we've had success,

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Speaker 4: we've got to get better. When we have it, we've

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Speaker 4: got to get better. I think that's always there.

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Speaker 5: You know.

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Speaker 3: We're just we try to do the best we can.

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Speaker 4: To understand the relationships between winning baseball individually and collectively,

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Speaker 4: you know, and what those are and make sure we

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Speaker 4: have as good an understanding as possible as we can.

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Speaker 4: And then we're continuing to get better. And you know,

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Speaker 4: we lean in our players. We care about them. You know,

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Speaker 4: we care for them. We try to do everything we can.

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Speaker 4: The payil disparities, they are what they are, right, but

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Speaker 4: the care, the effort to support behind the scenes, that's

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Speaker 4: something that we can compete there. And as far as

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Speaker 4: I'm concerned, as long as I'm here and we're here,

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Speaker 4: we're gonna make sure that we're at the top of

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Speaker 4: the board when it comes to those aspects. And that's

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Speaker 4: part of having a winning club, a winning culture, and

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Speaker 4: winning expectations.

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Speaker 1: When I was there, one of the things that Cashi

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Speaker 1: told me was everybody has a voice in the room.

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Speaker 1: When you guys talk about something like we're gonna try it,

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Speaker 1: can you tell us the most crazy thing? You don't

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Speaker 1: have to say who it was the craziest thing because

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Speaker 1: the day, one of the days I was there, we

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Speaker 1: worked on a pickoff to third when it's an automatic

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Speaker 1: first and third and the guy's gonna steal and were

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Speaker 1: timing it to see how quickly you could do it

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Speaker 1: if it was possible with our pitching staff. What's the

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Speaker 1: craziest thing that you guys have said, We're gonna try

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Speaker 1: it even though it made never made it into the game.

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Speaker 3: Oh man, we've we've got some. We've got a lot

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Speaker 3: of good ones.

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Speaker 4: Those the two strike buns, why not you know, all

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Speaker 4: sorts of stuff.

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Speaker 3: Have you guys been to Washington's camp yet?

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Speaker 1: Yes?

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Speaker 3: Yes, Ah, darn it. So Annie Colombi, who's the GM.

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Speaker 4: Now, he was a big advocate of one catcher out

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Speaker 4: a postseason roster, right, you got your off days ride

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Speaker 4: with one, and you know, ad ad, you know, expand

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Speaker 4: your rosters some other way, give it a go. That

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Speaker 4: one would have been up there, that's for sure. I

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Speaker 4: don't think we'd ever have the courage to roll with one.

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Speaker 4: And you know, usually your lead guy takes the light

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Speaker 4: ins share of the work, but if he goes down,

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Speaker 4: we didn't want to think about that one.

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Speaker 3: But that was one.

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Speaker 4: If you when you circle back to Washington, ask Gotti

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Speaker 4: about that one.

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Speaker 3: I'm pointing it to him.

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Speaker 6: When you're here in camp, When you're here in camp

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Speaker 6: and you have young guys at Carson and you have

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Speaker 6: guys you know, on the brink of the major leagues,

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Speaker 6: are there certain things you're looking for them checkboxes or

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Speaker 6: when it comes down to making a decision, you just

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Speaker 6: look them in the eyes and you just know if

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Speaker 6: they're ready or not.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't.

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Speaker 4: You never know if someone's truly ready until they get

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Speaker 4: there and they do it right.

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Speaker 3: But I think.

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Speaker 4: I think for me, for Cash, your for our staff,

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Speaker 4: any young player that you had to experience the major leagues.

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Speaker 3: You never assume they're ready. Right there's you've lived at Krats,

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Speaker 3: you've lived it like you don't know you're ready. You

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Speaker 3: got to get in it. You got to experience it.

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Speaker 4: And Carson, you know, much like Cammi of the year before,

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Speaker 4: having some experience we didn't want. We weren't where we

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Speaker 4: wanted to be in the standings last August September. But

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Speaker 4: with that you can give some opportunity to younger players

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Speaker 4: just to find their footing and to gather a lot

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Speaker 4: of feedback and it's learning, it's growing.

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Speaker 3: I don't think it's necessarily a switch that's flipped.

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Speaker 4: Carson by having those opportunities last year, having those struggles

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Speaker 4: getting you know, being in the lineup most days, I

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Speaker 4: think it made its off season a lot more productive.

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Speaker 4: You appreciated not just coaches telling him what he needed

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Speaker 4: to work on, but getting that that first hand feedback.

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Speaker 4: And I think as long as the growth and that

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Speaker 4: kind of feedback loop, as a player, you're getting what

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Speaker 4: you need to know what you have to do to improve,

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Speaker 4: and to do it with urgency. That's that's all we're

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Speaker 4: trying to do and accepting that when you're a young

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Speaker 4: player it's hard, right, and not asking too much of

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Speaker 4: them too soon. Last year with Cammy, we tried to

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Speaker 4: manage expectations out of the gates last year at forty

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Speaker 4: five homers.

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Speaker 3: You know what that looks like this year.

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Speaker 4: But building a team where young players don't have to

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Speaker 4: do too much, they can find their confidence, they can

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Speaker 4: find that sense of belonging, and then they can elevate

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Speaker 4: their game.

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Speaker 2: The number one rated ticketing app is seat geek and

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Speaker 2: you can get ten percent off on sea geeks app

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Speaker 2: by using the code territory ten, So you should use it.

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Speaker 7: Aj Oh, I'm definitely going to use it for WBC

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Speaker 7: games in Miami because I want to go to the

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Speaker 7: semi finals in the finals.

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Speaker 8: And they're going to be sold out absolutely.

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Speaker 7: Spring training games for the people out there who want

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Speaker 7: to go to spring training games, absolutely great idea, best

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Speaker 7: seats rated one through ten. And I recently had to

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Speaker 7: use sea Geek to buy tickets to a Florida Gators

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Speaker 7: basketball game that was sold out. So I love the

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Speaker 7: code Territory ten percent off and the rating is the best.

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Speaker 2: Yes, he's talking about each ticket rated on a scale

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Speaker 2: red means bad. And of course we have a code

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Speaker 2: for you, like I mentioned, it's Territory ten for ten

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Speaker 2: percent off your next set of tickets at sea Geek.

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Speaker 2: E R R I t O R Y one zero.

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Speaker 2: Make sure you click the link in the description and

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Speaker 2: download the app and have the code automatically added to

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Speaker 2: your account so you can use it later.

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Speaker 8: Thank you to see Geek.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I think that was the beauty of

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Speaker 6: the expanded rosters before too, and I got my start

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Speaker 6: kind of because of the expanded rosters and the team

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Speaker 6: not doing well down the stretch, but it was invaluable

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Speaker 6: experience for me to go up there and especially fail

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Speaker 6: because up until that point I hadn't really failed. So

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Speaker 6: me getting my feet wet in the big leagues, getting

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Speaker 6: used to the surroundings, you know, getting used to the teammates,

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Speaker 6: but ultimately failing kind of really motivated me in the

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Speaker 6: offseason and honestly getting around the hitting department. You know,

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Speaker 6: the team, they give me things to work on. It

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Speaker 6: was guided, So I mean that was invaluable for me.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's huge, and we try and just it's you

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Speaker 4: have to have those experiences, you have to have the

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Speaker 4: peer to peer influence in that perspective is so important.

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Speaker 4: Even in camp, right it's a this is a lower

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Speaker 4: stress environment compared to September, but it's still important to

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Speaker 4: make sure these guys are learning as much as they

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Speaker 4: can as quickly as they can, not from coaches, not

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Speaker 4: for myself, but from people that are doing it with

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Speaker 4: them and they've done what they've done, what they're trying

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Speaker 4: to do.

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Speaker 3: It's critical.

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Speaker 1: Is that easier in Tampa because you will you look

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Speaker 1: at other organizations and you go, WHOA, you know they

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Speaker 1: have seven of the eight guys are on a twenty

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Speaker 1: million dollar contract. It's so hard to plug in a

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Speaker 1: young player. Do you feel like it's easier for you

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Speaker 1: guys to give that runway and allow your evaluators to say,

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Speaker 1: you give him two hundred bats in the big leagues,

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Speaker 1: he's going to figure it out. If you're joining a

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Speaker 1: playoff team that has veterans, it's harder. Correct.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I look, without without question, I think Jonathan Aronda,

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Speaker 4: you know, made an All Star team last year, is

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Speaker 4: got to being highlighted with Team Mexico.

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Speaker 1: Now.

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Speaker 4: It was kind of the tail end of his third

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Speaker 4: year of getting major league opportunity where it finally clicked

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Speaker 4: late in twenty twenty four. Twenty twenty three, he got

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Speaker 4: a little, I'm sorry, twenty two we got a little,

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Speaker 4: twenty three you got a little, and finally twenty four

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Speaker 4: it just kind of happened one day late in the

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Speaker 4: year where it clicked. And I think just staying with guys,

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Speaker 4: look at every situation is different for us. We try

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Speaker 4: to do everything we can to play Major League baseball.

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Speaker 4: Is it's stressful enough as it is, we try to

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Speaker 4: do everything we can behind the scenes, family, whatever it

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Speaker 4: might be to reduce the stress. Is as much weekends,

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Speaker 4: these guys can just go play baseball, and we can

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Speaker 4: be patient with them, and really, frankly, at times, we

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Speaker 4: don't have a choice. We've got to right, we've got

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Speaker 4: to stick with them, we've got to.

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Speaker 3: Get behind them. And as long as enough of them

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Speaker 3: reward you.

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Speaker 4: And we've been really fortunate to have players that have here,

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Speaker 4: good things happen.

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Speaker 3: And that was the case with someone like Ronda and

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Speaker 3: many others.

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Speaker 1: I want you to talk about the Brandon Law trade,

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Speaker 1: but not just the like physical you traded into the

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Speaker 1: Pirates and you've got back prospects. Think about when he

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Speaker 1: first broke into the big leagues and most people in

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Speaker 1: the big leagues didn't know about him, and then he

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Speaker 1: signed his extension with the Rays and he was a

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Speaker 1: guy that really for Rays fans has been the guy

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Speaker 1: like player fans have gone and said, hey, you know what,

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Speaker 1: I want to buy a Brandon Low jersey. I love

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Speaker 1: watching him hit his home runs. He has been a

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Speaker 1: Ray for so long. How does that change that process?

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Speaker 1: But also then when you're going to the teams, how

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Speaker 1: much are you talking to Brandon about that? Because he's

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Speaker 1: going to be a free agent after this upcoming season.

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Speaker 3: I lost my bratzy.

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Speaker 4: Can you hear me, I can hear you, all right, Yeah,

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Speaker 4: I always heard the beginning of that. I don't have

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Speaker 4: anything in my ear, but just on Brandon, and I'm

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Speaker 4: going to try to fill in the rest of what

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Speaker 4: I think you probably were getting to. Those decisions are

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Speaker 4: incredibly difficult.

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Speaker 3: It's you know, at.

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Speaker 4: Top of my job description somewhere is the responsibility to

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Speaker 4: win in baseball games, and with that comes difficult decisions.

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Speaker 4: But part of how we try to win baseball games

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Speaker 4: is really investing in our players.

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Speaker 3: And people that are here.

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Speaker 4: You know, I have vivid memories of going back to

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Speaker 4: the draft and Brandon had an injury coming around first

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Speaker 4: base at Maryland, had him slide a little bit in

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Speaker 4: the draft to where we took him in the third round,

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Speaker 4: and just his whole career, that whole journey. You get

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Speaker 4: to know these people, You invested them, you care for them,

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Speaker 4: You play a small part in helping them.

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Speaker 3: You know, all their.

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Speaker 4: Professional dreams come true, and certainly his did so him

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Speaker 4: hit thirty nine home or some hit thirty plus last year,

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Speaker 4: you know him, Madison. Not just their contributions to the team,

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Speaker 4: but the community things they've done with mental health, et cetera.

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Speaker 4: Like it all, It all matters. You know, these are

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Speaker 4: these are people first before their players, and you really

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Speaker 4: care for them. You have to at the end of

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Speaker 4: the day make the decisions you believe are best for

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Speaker 4: the club. But they don't get they don't get easier.

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Speaker 4: You know, we're gonna we're gonna miss him in more

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Speaker 4: ways that I could describe here and in a few minutes.

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Speaker 4: But to keep this train running over time, we felt

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Speaker 4: like it was a decision we need to make.

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Speaker 3: But like I said, don't they don't get easier.

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Speaker 4: They're incredibly difficult decisions and the day they're not difficult,

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Speaker 4: so you don't feel that emotion as today. Someone else

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Speaker 4: needs to be doing this job.

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Speaker 8: Hey, all right, I'm gonna KP.

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Speaker 1: Did you want to go or I'll jump.

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Speaker 5: In for co No, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead?

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Speaker 2: Okay, all right, So first off, Eric, I know you

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Speaker 2: mentioned this towards the top of the interview.

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Speaker 8: Where are we at with the stadium?

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Speaker 1: I live somewhat close.

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Speaker 2: I want to know I got a new parking in

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Speaker 2: four or five years where.

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Speaker 4: We got Yeah, Hey, hey, I'm hopeful I live near

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Speaker 4: the stadium. Potential site myself is we are I'm not

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Speaker 4: in the nitty gritty of it. But I see you

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Speaker 4: guys rolling some film here from some work that's been

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Speaker 4: done recently. You know, Ken Babby, our CEO, is on

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Speaker 4: the front line of trying to make this happen. This

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Speaker 4: stated goal of opening in twenty twenty nine. Y'all have

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Speaker 4: seen enough stadiums built throughout the game. If we're opening

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Speaker 4: this thing in twenty twenty nine, that means some things

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Speaker 4: need to get figured out here pretty soon, you know,

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Speaker 4: over the next several months. So we appreciate the energy,

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Speaker 4: the commitment to trying to figure this out, the urgency

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Speaker 4: behind it.

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Speaker 3: That's welcome.

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Speaker 4: You know, this has been something as a franchise we've

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Speaker 4: been after for a long time. It's been a cloud

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Speaker 4: of uncertainty that's been hanging over this organization. I think,

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Speaker 4: you know, it could really help elevate us just to

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Speaker 4: have it put to bed. So I know they're working tirely,

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Speaker 4: tirelessly at it. They're listening to the community, listening to

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Speaker 4: our fans, and seems like there's a lot of positive momentum.

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Speaker 4: Want to do my part to make sure this team's

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Speaker 4: ready to go play competitive baseball and win baseball games

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Speaker 4: wherever we're playing, and as long as we're doing that

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Speaker 4: will only help those efforts to get something done.

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Speaker 3: But I know they're working at it. We appreciate it,

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Speaker 3: and hopefully we're getting close.

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Speaker 2: Hey, I'm going to ask the fan question that probably

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Speaker 2: pops up frequently because the Rays have done a really

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Speaker 2: nice job of putting together competitive teams. Do things change

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Speaker 2: in terms of spending if the ballpark comes to truition

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Speaker 2: the way that everyone hopes it does, and also does

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Speaker 2: that change even leading up to it with a new

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Speaker 2: ownership group in trying to get set up for that.

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Speaker 4: Right, Look, there's only one way to to find out, right,

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Speaker 4: it's to get this ballpark done and and get the

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Speaker 4: development on its way. I think that's the that's the hope, right,

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Speaker 4: That's that's the belief, and and we'll see how things

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Speaker 4: go over time. But you know the reason you know

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Speaker 4: that you hope a new stadium, surrounding development everything that

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Speaker 4: comes with it, that a significant part of that is revenue.

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Speaker 3: Generation that can be put back into the club.

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Speaker 4: I you know, I've heard Patrick talk publicly as opening comments,

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Speaker 4: I've I've heard Ken talk endlessly about it. The desire,

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Speaker 4: you know, is to create more revenue and to put

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Speaker 4: that back in the club to create a stronger product, right,

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Speaker 4: a product that is more desirable for for our fans,

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Speaker 4: for our community, and hopefully leads to that first championship.

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Speaker 4: So you know, that's that's kind of the goal. That's

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Speaker 4: that's been the goal for just an assortment of reasons

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Speaker 4: over time.

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Speaker 3: We haven't quite been.

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Speaker 4: Able to to line it up, but hopefully that's something

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Speaker 4: around the corner here.

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Speaker 3: And like I said, we've we've had a lot of success.

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Speaker 4: We've been really fortunate to have great players, but you know,

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Speaker 4: I think for us to truly level up, this will

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Speaker 4: be a big part of it.

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Speaker 6: You talked about the importance of guys getting around other

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Speaker 6: guys and peer to peer support. Recently hired Kevin Kiermeyer

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Speaker 6: to come back. How important do you think he's going

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Speaker 6: to be to the organization and how important do you

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Speaker 6: think it is to have former Rays coming back and

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Speaker 6: helping these guys out in camp.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, Like I think it's you know, kind of what

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Speaker 4: we talked about earlier, Right, It's like I can't put

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Speaker 4: myself in their position, right, I can listen to people

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Speaker 4: that have done what you've done, what Eric has done,

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Speaker 4: what other players here have done and someone like Kiermeyer

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Speaker 4: not only has he done it, he's done it here

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Speaker 4: right he grew up here. He was a thirtieth something

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Speaker 4: round pick. That whole journey. Most of the guys in

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Speaker 4: our clubhouse, especially right now, have been passed over, have

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Speaker 4: had some sort of you.

427
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:55,399
Speaker 3: Know, adversity in a career.

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Speaker 4: You know that they have survived and they've come out

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Speaker 4: the other side, and we see some belief in them,

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Speaker 4: and you know, kk someone's lived that journey's lived it here.

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Speaker 4: So to have resources like him that are around to

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Speaker 4: give back to our players, I think it's incredibly helpful

433
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Speaker 4: to you know, talk about a lot with young players.

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Speaker 4: You look back three, five, seven years. You know these lists.

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Speaker 4: I have them, you know, for my job. But the

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Speaker 4: man I wish I had known that two years ago.

437
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Speaker 4: I wish I had known that five years ago. I

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Speaker 4: wish this was a priority ten years ago. There's only

439
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Speaker 4: you know, one of the biggest ways to accelerate that

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Speaker 4: and shrink that list is having someone like him around.

441
00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:30,120
Speaker 4: You know, that's that's done it and cares about these

442
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,600
Speaker 4: guys and wants to give back. Corey Dickerson, our first

443
00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,200
Speaker 4: base coach, you know he played here, he had those experiences.

444
00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,119
Speaker 4: He's been unbelievable, you know, with that in mind here

445
00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:38,920
Speaker 4: in the early going.

446
00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,440
Speaker 3: So look, it's about players.

447
00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:43,359
Speaker 4: Like I said, we play our small part in helping

448
00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:44,600
Speaker 4: them find success and.

449
00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:46,760
Speaker 3: To fulfill their dreams individually and collectively.

450
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:48,840
Speaker 4: And you know, the guys that have done it are

451
00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,399
Speaker 4: a huge part of helping the next generation find their

452
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:52,280
Speaker 4: way to doing it as well.

453
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,560
Speaker 1: Did you see the Randy Rose Arena Cal Rawley thing

454
00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:56,080
Speaker 1: last night?

455
00:18:58,160 --> 00:18:59,399
Speaker 3: I picked it up this morning.

456
00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:04,480
Speaker 4: I got a little more to you know, to check

457
00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,480
Speaker 4: out on that one, But I did happen to see it.

458
00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,919
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, you know Randy, basically you saw what happened.

459
00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,520
Speaker 1: He went to shake Col's hand, his teammate, and the

460
00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,800
Speaker 1: whole conversation we've talked about. You talk about the people,

461
00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,400
Speaker 1: you talk about the people inside that room, you knowing Randy.

462
00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,679
Speaker 1: You don't know Cal. But if that happened and it

463
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,280
Speaker 1: was in your clubhouse for the regular season right now

464
00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,359
Speaker 1: it's in the WBC, how would you have handled it?

465
00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:31,679
Speaker 1: Or how would you Yeah, how would you've handled that?

466
00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:36,199
Speaker 4: Oh that's a good well, I'd start by getting a

467
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:37,520
Speaker 4: full picture of what went out.

468
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:39,639
Speaker 3: I'm watching it now. I saw this, I saw a

469
00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:41,119
Speaker 3: few clips. I have no idea.

470
00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,120
Speaker 4: I might have ten percent of the picture right now,

471
00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:44,879
Speaker 4: I might have all of them.

472
00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:45,480
Speaker 3: I quite sure.

473
00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:49,720
Speaker 4: I certainly would start by understanding the entirety of what

474
00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,560
Speaker 4: went down. But look there men, their adults. You understand

475
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:56,840
Speaker 4: the competitive situation. They're not teammates right now, they're competing

476
00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:59,080
Speaker 4: against each other. You just try to build as much

477
00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,600
Speaker 4: of an understanding for what went on, who was thinking what,

478
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:06,960
Speaker 4: why they were thinking it. But knowing Randy, you know,

479
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,119
Speaker 4: a motivated Randy, a locked in Randy is a scary Randy.

480
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,600
Speaker 4: So I certainly wouldn't mind that part of it, to

481
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,359
Speaker 4: the extent that anything well you know, winds up Randy,

482
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,000
Speaker 4: usually good things happen on the field thereafter.

483
00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,439
Speaker 3: So i'd certainly take that part. Think the world of Randy.

484
00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,600
Speaker 2: Hey, if he goes off the rest of the tournament, Eric,

485
00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,440
Speaker 2: then I mean that's going to happen regularly, right, Like

486
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,280
Speaker 2: he's gonna tell every catcher he's gonna pretend he's the

487
00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:35,320
Speaker 2: catcher every game and be like just kidding just to

488
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:40,880
Speaker 2: get him pissed off. Whatever works, right, exactly, yeah, exactly, Well,

489
00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,800
Speaker 2: we really appreciate the hangout. Thank you for stopping by.

490
00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:46,399
Speaker 2: We love the hat to back to back years. It

491
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:48,359
Speaker 2: gets a lot of pub from the fans, so thank

492
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:49,080
Speaker 2: you for doing that.

493
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:50,080
Speaker 3: We like the outfight.

494
00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:50,720
Speaker 1: We like it.

495
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,840
Speaker 4: I appreciate it. My head's too big to wear. I

496
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,000
Speaker 4: wish I could wear hats like a piece here. I

497
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:58,320
Speaker 4: just can't, so I get stuck with this thing which

498
00:20:58,760 --> 00:20:59,680
Speaker 4: doesn't really fit either.

499
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,120
Speaker 3: Uh large, it's.

500
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,080
Speaker 4: Oh it's an eight depending on the hat, you.

501
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:07,760
Speaker 3: Know, but it's the dump.

502
00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,760
Speaker 4: They don't they don't come down far enough. So you know, crats,

503
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,520
Speaker 4: what do you got? You gotta you gotta's all right,

504
00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:18,040
Speaker 4: I can't pull them down far enough, you know.

505
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,720
Speaker 3: That's the problem. That's right, A lot of empty space.

506
00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:25,440
Speaker 2: Up there, exactly. Eric, really appreciate it. Great to talk

507
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,239
Speaker 2: to you. Good luck this season, all right, I appreciate it.

508
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,440
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509
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518
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531
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:41,640
Speaker 2: you take it away.

532
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,400
Speaker 6: Yeah, Hey, good to see you, mane. How's everything going

533
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:46,120
Speaker 6: in camp so far?

534
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,679
Speaker 9: It's going well, starting to warm up a bit, which is,

535
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,600
Speaker 9: you know, not the most exciting thing, but camp's going well.

536
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:53,840
Speaker 8: We're having a good time. Guys look good.

537
00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:58,199
Speaker 6: So all's well when you think sorry, sorry Christy, But

538
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:00,640
Speaker 6: when you think Tampa Bay Rays, you know what's kind

539
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,840
Speaker 6: of a pitching factory. Take us under the hood of

540
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:05,320
Speaker 6: the other side, from the catching perspective, but also the

541
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:08,200
Speaker 6: hitting department of how you feel like they've gotten you better?

542
00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,280
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean obviously, historically they've.

543
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 9: Been known for their arms and their you know, plethora

544
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:15,200
Speaker 9: of talent on the bump.

545
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:16,200
Speaker 8: That's no secret.

546
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:19,560
Speaker 9: So from a catching standpoint, what's preached to me is

547
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,960
Speaker 9: just get as much out of these guys as I can,

548
00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:29,280
Speaker 9: whether it be setups or communicating, sequencing in between innings,

549
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 9: looking at you know, their characteristics and their pitch strengths

550
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,080
Speaker 9: and how can we implement that to get the most

551
00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,920
Speaker 9: out of them. So there's a lot of communication that

552
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:40,760
Speaker 9: goes on behind the scenes with you know, our coaching

553
00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,560
Speaker 9: staff and the analytics people who they are tremendous at it.

554
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,679
Speaker 9: So it makes my job a lot easier. And then

555
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,840
Speaker 9: a lot of the same thing goes for the hitting.

556
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,760
Speaker 8: Side of it too. You know, our hitting coaches have

557
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:52,440
Speaker 8: helped me a lot.

558
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,120
Speaker 9: I feel really comfortable with them, and I just think

559
00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,520
Speaker 9: that the communication is really really good. And yeah, I

560
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,920
Speaker 9: think that they know how to tailor the analytics and

561
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:03,880
Speaker 9: the information to each guy really well.

562
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,159
Speaker 1: Compared to being with the Marlins. Compare the Rays and

563
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,320
Speaker 1: we'll get into exactly what they do what you do

564
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:13,080
Speaker 1: with the Rays, but compare it to being with the

565
00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,960
Speaker 1: Marlins and how how different, how different it is for you.

566
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,280
Speaker 8: Yeah, it was an adjustment for sure.

567
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,879
Speaker 9: I could tell coming into this organization there was a

568
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:27,800
Speaker 9: lot of expectations and a standard because you know, Cashi's

569
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,240
Speaker 9: been here forever, a lot of the assistant coaches have

570
00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:33,320
Speaker 9: been here forever, so it's a pretty established core of

571
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:35,040
Speaker 9: coaching staff.

572
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,600
Speaker 8: Compare that to Miami. I went through, you know, three

573
00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:39,680
Speaker 8: different managers there.

574
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:41,640
Speaker 9: There was a lot of turnover a year over year,

575
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:44,960
Speaker 9: so getting to know new people every single year made

576
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 9: it a little bit difficult from like a continuity standpoint.

577
00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:51,160
Speaker 8: So coming in here.

578
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,480
Speaker 9: It was, you know, nice to have like a set

579
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,760
Speaker 9: group of coaching staff that had been here a while

580
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:58,880
Speaker 9: and the culture has been set and all the guys

581
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:03,160
Speaker 9: understand that there's an expectation to win here. The Rays

582
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 9: have done some really good things, you know, over the

583
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:09,160
Speaker 9: course of history, and you know, being able to win

584
00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:13,320
Speaker 9: every year without putting out, you know, a high payroll team.

585
00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:15,480
Speaker 8: So it's just a testament to how they do.

586
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:17,600
Speaker 9: Things operationally here, and it was kind of cool to

587
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:19,760
Speaker 9: step foot into the door of an organization like that.

588
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,360
Speaker 1: Let's get straight to the receiving part of it, because

589
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,159
Speaker 1: when I got traded over the Rays, the reason the

590
00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,800
Speaker 1: Rays wanted me was because I was good at receiving.

591
00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 1: And they were like, I want you to sit in

592
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,240
Speaker 1: the very middle of the plate. Our pitchers are gonna

593
00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 1: throw the ball. And did they still call it the

594
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:37,800
Speaker 1: the pot of gold? What do they call it the

595
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:40,560
Speaker 1: what's what's their vernacular?

596
00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,200
Speaker 8: I think nowadays it's just middle middle.

597
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,480
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, that they called it. They called it the

598
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:49,119
Speaker 1: pot of gold. They were like, this is where the

599
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:52,760
Speaker 1: money's made, middle of the plate. Down off, let it move.

600
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 1: Does that diminish some of your receiving value in the

601
00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,400
Speaker 1: sense that maybe with the Marlins you worked a little

602
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,160
Speaker 1: bit more of the cows. And if it did, does

603
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,680
Speaker 1: that do you feel like you have enough pushback or

604
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,160
Speaker 1: do you definitely dive into it and say, Okay, I

605
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:10,959
Speaker 1: agree with it, it's the best for the pictures.

606
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:14,960
Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean, I'm all for whatever makes the picture comfortable.

607
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,159
Speaker 9: Each guy is different. There are certain guys that like

608
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,439
Speaker 9: to shade a little bit more than others, and then

609
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,240
Speaker 9: there's certain guys that are like, I want to see

610
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:23,760
Speaker 9: you just right down the middle. So it's all dependent

611
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:27,720
Speaker 9: on the guy. But you know, I think that receiving

612
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:31,440
Speaker 9: is still good. Receiving numbers can still be attained even

613
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:33,000
Speaker 9: if you set up on the heart of the plate.

614
00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 9: I take a lot of pride in that, and I

615
00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,919
Speaker 9: do a lot of work, you know, with Tomas and

616
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:41,399
Speaker 9: the guys, of working misfires and setting up down the

617
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 9: middle and being able to catch those balls to the

618
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,960
Speaker 9: best of my ability. So the expectation for me is

619
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,119
Speaker 9: to still be able to put up good numbers behind

620
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 9: the plate receiving wise. But yes, it's a little bit

621
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:55,240
Speaker 9: more difficult. But I think, like I said, it just

622
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,399
Speaker 9: depends on the guy. Because there's certain guys like Ras

623
00:26:57,960 --> 00:26:59,400
Speaker 9: that you just spoke to that can move the ball

624
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:01,200
Speaker 9: around really well and he likes to be able to

625
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 9: go back and forth.

626
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:04,960
Speaker 8: Or you got a guy like Joe Boyle.

627
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:06,400
Speaker 9: That you know, he's got electric stuff and he wants

628
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:07,520
Speaker 9: to see the big part of the plate.

629
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 8: So it's just from.

630
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:09,120
Speaker 3: Guy to guy.

631
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:10,200
Speaker 8: It varies a little bit.

632
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 6: Do you think have you thought about this setting up

633
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,560
Speaker 6: in the middle of the plate with the ABS system,

634
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:16,880
Speaker 6: Do you think it's going to give you a better

635
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 6: advantage point of maybe some of those borderline misses kind

636
00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:22,479
Speaker 6: of being over the heart of the plate. And what

637
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:26,600
Speaker 6: are those conversations like, you know, with your pictures and

638
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:28,840
Speaker 6: maybe you're catching coach in the organization about how you

639
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,080
Speaker 6: guys are going to implement those from you know, is

640
00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:33,399
Speaker 6: it strictly going to be catchers or are pictures going

641
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:34,840
Speaker 6: to have the freedom to challenge as well?

642
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:36,800
Speaker 8: Yeah, we're still feeling it out.

643
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:38,919
Speaker 9: I mean, I'm pretty sure that there's a consensus that

644
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,520
Speaker 9: you know, having the pictures challenge is not the most

645
00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,800
Speaker 9: ideal scenario, like ego, Yeah, exactly, they you know, the

646
00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:49,040
Speaker 9: emotions behind it, but yeah, I think it's going to

647
00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:50,120
Speaker 9: be primarily from the.

648
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:51,639
Speaker 8: Catcher or the hitter when we're up to that.

649
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,560
Speaker 9: But like certain scenarios, you know, still feeling it out,

650
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:57,000
Speaker 9: like when is the best time to do it?

651
00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 8: When can you afford to let you know, call slot.

652
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,680
Speaker 9: So that's something that's probably gonna have to be adjusted,

653
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,280
Speaker 9: you know, as we get more familiar with it. But

654
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,800
Speaker 9: as far as setting up down the middle, it it's

655
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,400
Speaker 9: going to have to force a little bit more awareness

656
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,159
Speaker 9: on my part, you know, of where the corners are,

657
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:17,880
Speaker 9: because if I'm set up down the middle and i've

658
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,320
Speaker 9: you know, catch a pitch that's off my body, I'm

659
00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 9: gonna have to know where my where my edges are

660
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:24,600
Speaker 9: and have to be a lot more aware of like

661
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:26,960
Speaker 9: how far I'm reaching to be able to know if

662
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:30,280
Speaker 9: a ball, you know, clips or if it if it doesn't. So, yeah,

663
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,240
Speaker 9: it's gonna it's gonna take a little bit more time

664
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,159
Speaker 9: and a little bit more spring training starts to be

665
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:35,760
Speaker 9: able to get a better feel for it.

666
00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 8: But yeah, it's an adjustment for sure.

667
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 1: Are you good at it?

668
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 9: I've only challenged so our system right now is you

669
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:47,560
Speaker 9: know you can challenge. You know, they want you to

670
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:49,880
Speaker 9: exhaust your challenges during the spring. But you know, if

671
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:51,400
Speaker 9: you think that there's a pitch that's closed and you

672
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,320
Speaker 9: don't feel like challenging, you just tap your glove then

673
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,720
Speaker 9: they let you know if it's a striker a ball.

674
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,400
Speaker 9: And so far, I think I've done pretty well with it.

675
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,160
Speaker 9: I've only missed a couple and the ones that I

676
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,080
Speaker 9: have missed. They're like those razor blade misses that are

677
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:05,640
Speaker 9: like right off the edge, which are going to be

678
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 9: tough to tell during the year.

679
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:13,240
Speaker 1: What is the hardest part of the zone top, bottom, sides.

680
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:15,800
Speaker 8: Would I would say it's the top.

681
00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 9: I would say it's the top for sure, because obviously

682
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 9: it's the top and bottom are both floating depending on

683
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:24,800
Speaker 9: how tall the hitter is. So you know, a guy

684
00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,120
Speaker 9: could walk up that's six foot and his zone is,

685
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 9: you know, right here, and then the next guy comes

686
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,400
Speaker 9: up he's sixty three, it floats up a little bit higher.

687
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,920
Speaker 9: So I mean it's tough the top and bottom. The

688
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,240
Speaker 9: corner stay the same, obviously, but the top and bottom. Personally,

689
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,080
Speaker 9: I think it's a little more difficult with the top

690
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:43,960
Speaker 9: because sometimes if I'm catching a ball over my head,

691
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,000
Speaker 9: it feels really high to me. But if you know,

692
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,160
Speaker 9: Aaron judges up to that, it's going to probably be

693
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,840
Speaker 9: a strike because he's so big, So that's going to

694
00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:52,480
Speaker 9: be the biggest adjustment I think is the top.

695
00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:55,600
Speaker 6: Tell me what you've seen out of shade, because a

696
00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:58,720
Speaker 6: couple of years ago you had a left handed pitcher

697
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,040
Speaker 6: walking around camp that you know a lot of people

698
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:03,520
Speaker 6: considered maybe the best picture in baseball, where he was

699
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:05,880
Speaker 6: trending towards being the best picture in baseball.

700
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:07,920
Speaker 5: What have you seen out of him? And how excited

701
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:08,880
Speaker 5: are you to have him back.

702
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,640
Speaker 9: I'm really excited to have Shane back. I faced him

703
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,280
Speaker 9: quite a bit, you know, throughout my time with Miami,

704
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,600
Speaker 9: playing the Rays every year, and even a little bit

705
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,400
Speaker 9: in the minor leagues. He's always had unbelievable stuff, but

706
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 9: I never knew him as a person, and now getting

707
00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:24,000
Speaker 9: traded over here, getting to know him and the competitor

708
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 9: he is, like, it's insane, Like he's he's so determined,

709
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,000
Speaker 9: and you know, I was talking to him the other day,

710
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,239
Speaker 9: He's like, we've never missed the playoffs while I'm you know,

711
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:37,480
Speaker 9: in the rotation, and I don't expect it to be

712
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:39,520
Speaker 9: any different now that I'm back. And that's just like

713
00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:44,160
Speaker 9: his mindset. He's so confident and he's so eager to win.

714
00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:46,280
Speaker 9: And I think that that having a piece like that

715
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 9: in your rotation and in your clubhouse, it raises the

716
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:52,280
Speaker 9: bar for everybody else. So I mean, getting to know him,

717
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,520
Speaker 9: he's he's an incredible competitor and I can't wait to

718
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:55,760
Speaker 9: watch another full season of them.

719
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:56,200
Speaker 8: Hopefully.

720
00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,360
Speaker 1: All right, you gotta you got, you gotta shoot U

721
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:02,640
Speaker 1: straight here. We always say that the East is really

722
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:06,960
Speaker 1: good in the NL and AL. Which division is better,

723
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:11,080
Speaker 1: the NL East or the AL East?

724
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,120
Speaker 9: I mean, I think right now it's the AL East

725
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:17,160
Speaker 9: for sure. I think there was a time to when

726
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,280
Speaker 9: maybe the NL East was a little bit better, but

727
00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,960
Speaker 9: I think it's starting to shift a little bit, especially

728
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:23,760
Speaker 9: with all the big name signings that have been going

729
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 9: on in this division. So I think that for a

730
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:28,640
Speaker 9: time it was the NL East and playing with Miami,

731
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:30,400
Speaker 9: that's you know, I thought that it was the best.

732
00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:32,680
Speaker 9: But now with being with the Rays and getting to see,

733
00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:35,320
Speaker 9: you know, what the division is shaping into, now, I

734
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:37,280
Speaker 9: really think it's the AL East for sure.

735
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:40,800
Speaker 1: All Right, did you see I wanted if I was

736
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,120
Speaker 1: on site, I would have reached out my hand for

737
00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:45,560
Speaker 1: a handshake. I wanted to see if you were going

738
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:47,840
Speaker 1: to shake it. Did you see the Randy Rose arena

739
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,440
Speaker 1: and cal thing from yesterday? Oh?

740
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:51,640
Speaker 8: Yeah, I did.

741
00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:55,000
Speaker 1: How would you have handled that? How would you have

742
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,680
Speaker 1: handled it? In the sense that you're with your You're

743
00:31:57,680 --> 00:31:59,360
Speaker 1: with the team. You would be with the team the

744
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:03,640
Speaker 1: entire time, whether let's I'm trying to think YONDI Diaz

745
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,240
Speaker 1: and you are playing against each other in the WBC.

746
00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:11,280
Speaker 1: Do you shake Yandy's hand, and how do you feel

747
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 1: like Cal and Randy handled the entire situation.

748
00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:19,880
Speaker 8: I don't know. I think everybody's different.

749
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:23,000
Speaker 9: You know, I've never played in the WBC before, so

750
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,239
Speaker 9: I can't really tell you what the emotions are like

751
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,240
Speaker 9: in that environment. I can imagine they're very high, and

752
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:31,600
Speaker 9: everyone's you know, passionate about their country and and and

753
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:34,600
Speaker 9: they want to win. And I don't know, And I

754
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:36,959
Speaker 9: think I don't know cal rally personally. I don't really

755
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,480
Speaker 9: know Randy personally either, so I don't know the dynamic

756
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:43,680
Speaker 9: there at all. I know, for me, like I know myself,

757
00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:45,800
Speaker 9: and I'm a pretty personable guy, so I, you know,

758
00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:47,840
Speaker 9: probably would have just you know, shaken his hand. But

759
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,480
Speaker 9: that's that's just me. Everybody's different. And like I said,

760
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,640
Speaker 9: I've never been in that environment before, so I can't

761
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 9: speak to, you know, to what that is like.

762
00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:00,640
Speaker 5: So tell me a little bit about your off season.

763
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,680
Speaker 6: Things you wanted to work on hitting wise, and how

764
00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:05,440
Speaker 6: excited are you to be back in the trap, and

765
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:09,560
Speaker 6: maybe the difficulties of playing an entire season you know,

766
00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,040
Speaker 6: in a minor league ballpark, especially under the lights that

767
00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:15,200
Speaker 6: we know are not major league lights.

768
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:18,400
Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean the planet Steinbrenner was tough, you know,

769
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,840
Speaker 9: just because obviously the atmosphere is it's not, you know,

770
00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:23,400
Speaker 9: like a big league atmosphere.

771
00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,120
Speaker 8: So it'll be exciting to get back into the trap.

772
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 9: I'm excited about it because obviously getting to play indoors

773
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:32,600
Speaker 9: again in Florida is going to be nice. To got

774
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:36,200
Speaker 9: hot over there in Steinbrenner, but they've done some really

775
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:37,280
Speaker 9: good renovations to it.

776
00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:39,600
Speaker 8: We went over there for FanFest and it looks great.

777
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,440
Speaker 9: New turf and some upgrades, so I think it'll be

778
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,440
Speaker 9: good for both the players and the fans too, So

779
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:45,280
Speaker 9: I'm looking forward to that.

780
00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:47,320
Speaker 5: Is the roof slightly different color?

781
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:48,000
Speaker 8: Yeah?

782
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:48,840
Speaker 5: Or is it still?

783
00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:50,840
Speaker 6: I mean from I drove by it the other day,

784
00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:53,959
Speaker 6: it doesn't seem to be as white. Is it the

785
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:55,080
Speaker 6: inside looking any different?

786
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 3: Yeah?

787
00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,320
Speaker 9: I think the new panels that they put on are

788
00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:00,440
Speaker 9: a little bit darker because they haven't been by the

789
00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:00,960
Speaker 9: sun yet.

790
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:02,840
Speaker 8: So the some of the panels I think that.

791
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:06,400
Speaker 9: Were still intact were a little bit whiter, and then

792
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,000
Speaker 9: the new ones are a little bit darker because I

793
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,279
Speaker 9: don't think the sun's gotten to them yet, but it

794
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,040
Speaker 9: kind of looks cool. It's like a it looks like

795
00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:14,239
Speaker 9: a like a pizza up there.

796
00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,880
Speaker 1: Now, do you you did play a game in the

797
00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:21,640
Speaker 1: trop before when you were at the Marlins. Correct? Yes?

798
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:26,719
Speaker 1: Whose air conditioning is better, Miami or no?

799
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,200
Speaker 9: I would say I would say Tropic Canna for sure,

800
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:34,360
Speaker 9: for sure, because I think Miami it was a retractable

801
00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:36,040
Speaker 9: roof and a lot of times they would open it

802
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:38,440
Speaker 9: sometimes during VP and then close it back up for

803
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 9: the game, so a lot of that hot air stayed inside.

804
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,600
Speaker 9: But the Tropic Cana field it doesn't retract, so that

805
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,759
Speaker 9: air is just constantly pumping at all times, so it

806
00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:47,879
Speaker 9: gets nice and cool in there.

807
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:50,160
Speaker 1: Love that.

808
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,360
Speaker 6: Well, we can't thank you enough for coming on, Stay healthy,

809
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:58,160
Speaker 6: enjoy the air conditioning back in.

810
00:34:58,120 --> 00:34:59,920
Speaker 5: The trough, and have a great year.

811
00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:01,879
Speaker 8: I appreciate it, Kap, thanks for having me, guys,