00:00The Tampa Bay Rays, they're right now five and a half up
00:02as we talk in here with, you know, the American League East.
00:07George, tell me right now, I mean, how are they doing it here, man?
00:11Their pitching has been exceptional.
00:13Their hitting has been exceptional.
00:15And it's not just been Junior Caminero.
00:17It's been other guys that have been able to do it.
00:20And really, it comes with their starting pitching.
00:22They're number one or number two in saves right now as well.
00:26I mean, it's been really impressive.
00:28The thing is, when you think about their starting pitching, Dan,
00:31you're talking Drew Rasmussen, nice pitcher, right?
00:35Okay, McClanahan was expected to be an ace at some point,
00:37but he missed all of last year, various injuries here.
00:40But a good, solid pitcher.
00:41Steven Matz, that's a reclamation project, right,
00:44from St. Louis to Mets and such here.
00:46Nick Martinez, listen, anybody could have had him.
00:49Anybody.
00:50No, he was a late free agent addition to Tampa Bay.
00:52We know anybody Tampa Bay signs, no one else wants to sign him, right?
00:56They're not spending money on these guys.
00:57Griffin Jacks, more of a reliever there.
00:59I think, listen, for me, listen, you and I have been around forever.
01:03Tampa Bay plays baseball, right?
01:05They're moving runners over.
01:06They're putting pressure on defense.
01:08They're going to run.
01:08They're going to test their outfielders' arms.
01:10They're going to test everything here.
01:11They play baseball.
01:13Where a lot of these other teams, including the Yankees,
01:15the team I root for, they're the old Earl Weaver.
01:17We're waiting for a three-run homer.
01:19Over and over, waiting for a three-run homer.
01:20When's it coming here?
01:21You know, so I think the Rays play old-school baseball.
01:23And I think it just catches teams off guard.
01:25Now I'll be the first person to admit it's only May, you know, late May at that.
01:30I don't know if this is going to last all year.
01:31What are they going to do when their injuries hit and every team goes through it?
01:35Will they have the depth of the Yankees have over the Dodgers have?
01:38They can overcome some injuries here.
01:39So we'll see how that tests them over a long season.
01:42But right now, they look fantastic.
01:44You know, I'll even go here a little bit more on them.
01:47Eric Neander, their general manager.
01:50This goes back a long way on how they've really become the money ball team.
01:55I mean, you go back to those A's guys with how they build these baseball teams.
02:00I mean, George, they get an $87 million payroll.
02:03They're in the American League East.
02:05Okay, I mean, Juan Soto makes $70 million a year.
02:09I mean, they almost make it as much payroll-wise as he makes annually.
02:14It's really remarkable how they can contend and compete since 2014.
02:20They're the fourth winningest team in Major League Baseball.
02:23This goes back to Kevin Cash, right?
02:25What a great manager.
02:28Absolutely, because you have to get rid of all the egos.
02:30You can't have egos on this team because you're going to be asked to run around,
02:33second nobody out, you've got to hit a ground ball to the right side.
02:35Got to do it, right?
02:36You've got to get that runner over because they're playing for one run at a time here
02:38because they know they're not going to give up a lot.
02:40All right?
02:40They know that.
02:41So I think Cash does a great job.
02:43I think the players also do a great job of buying into the system.
02:46I think the GMs done a fantastic job of getting the right players
02:49because if you have ego players here, guys who want to hit the three-run home run,
02:52be on SportsCenter, that's not going to work in Tampa Bay.
02:55It's just not because that's not how the team is built.
02:57So you get the players to buy in, the right manager, and Cash.
03:00Personally, as a Yankee fan, I can't stand Cash, but he's a great manager.
03:03All right?
03:04But Cash knows how to manage these guys correctly.
03:06He pushes the right buttons a lot more often than the wrong ones, right?
03:10A lot more often.
03:11You see it in the Yankee series.
03:12Maybe not so much on the game Friday night, but he tests.
03:17In that game, in that series in Tampa Bay, he tested the Yankees.
03:20He was bunting all over the place.
03:21Let's see if these fielders can make the plays.
03:23And you know what?
03:24The Yankees couldn't make the plays.
03:26All right?
03:26Like I said, he's going to find out if you can play baseball.
03:29If you can't, you're not going to do all that well against the Raiders.
03:33Absolutely.
03:33And if I were the Mets, I'd back the Brinks truck up and go get Kevin Cash
03:37and bring his butt up to Queens there if I were them.
03:40Absolutely.
03:41Absolutely.
03:41Absolutely.
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