Mat Germain joins BaseballBiz On Deck and takes a look at the Tampa Bay Rays stadium plans

• Tampa Bay Rays new stadium plan
• Downtown development plan omits a Rays Stadium in Ybor City
• St. Pete Mayor, Ken Welch, announces acceptance of Hines & Tampa Bay Rays proposal
• Benefits for St. Pete, Rays, and fans
• Brian Auld's excitement about the new stadium plan but uncertainty about who will pay for what
• Decisions to be made before the first shovel of dirt is tossed
• MLB catching up with Mat Germain's proposal for a balanced schedule
• World Baseball Classic and the possibility of it becoming like the Soccer World Cup
• Possibility of Mike Trout facing Ohtani in the WBC
• Impact of star players participating in the WBC on young players making it to spring training
• Jason Adam's current status
• Extensions signed for Yandy Diaz, Pete Fairbanks, and Jeffrey Springs
• Yandy Diaz delivering nightmares to opposing pitchers with his strike zone awareness
• Potential starting lineup for the Rays (Yandy Diaz, Randy Arozarena, Brandon Lowe, Isaac Paredes, Josh Lowe)
• Mat's breakdown of starting pitchers and their expected playing time
• Who will be the Rays' "clubhouse guy" bringing positivity to the team
• Rays Fan Fest on Saturday, February 18
• Spring Training games in air conditioning at the Tropicana
• New faces that may be seen at Fan Fest (Kevin Kelly, Coby White, Zach Eflin, Curtis Mead, Kyle Manzardo). 
  (show notes by ChatGPT)

Mat Germain can be found on Twitter @Mat_Germain_

 BaseballBiz can be found on iheartradio, Stitcher, Apple, Spotify & Google podcasts & @TheBaseballBiz on Twitter 
 
Please like, follow and remark. Let us know your thoughts about the show. DM Mark on Twitter @TheBaseballBiz
 
Special thanks to XTaKeRuX for the music "Rocking Forward" 

Sources & Links:

• Rays Fan Fest - https://www.mlb.com/rays/fans/fan-fest 
• St Pete Mayor announces moving forward with Hines & Tampa Bay Rays proposal, Channel 10 Tampa Bay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG8VDa2Dmm8 
• Brian Auld - Tampa Bay Rays what needs to go right and who will pay for what, Channel 10 Tampa Bay:   https://www.youtube.com/live/VFjOWs7cxxM?feature=share